Policy uncertainty and internal structural challenges plague
South Africa's growth potential.
With the strike season still underway in certain industries,
South Africa got a sense of its impact on the economy thus far on
Thursday, 10 October 2013. Manufacturing output grew by a mere 0.2%
in August 2013 from a year before, compared to the annual growth
rate of 5.5% observed in July 2013, clearly reflecting lost
production due to strike action across industries. On a more
positive note, mining production increased by 2.1% year-on-year in
August 2013 on the back of platinum group metals, from the annual
increase of 1.2% observed in July 2013.1 According to
Andrew Levy Employment Publications, the number of working days
lost rose from 750 000 in the first half of last year to 1.8
million in the first half of this year.2
