Bad policies have shrunk South Africa’s economy
4 June 2024
After having barely skirted a technical recession the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) have today confirmed that our economy has reentered decline during the first quarter of 2024.
In February, Treasury National Budget estimated a growth rate of 1.3% for 2024. Its projection, even though low and uninspiring, was evidently overly optimistic given that our economy has already shrunk by 0.1%. If the status quo remains, it means that expected revenue, already revised downward, remains overstated and even less money will be available for crucial expenditure on service delivery and social support.
Our economy will also find it difficult to grow at the projected 1.4% over the medium term, given the multitude of crises that beset every facet of the South African experience.
Crime and corruption, industrial scale mismanagement, an inefficient public procurement framework, and the energy crisis have crippled our economy, and South Africans are becoming poorer by the day as a consequence.