President Cyril Ramaphosa said SA’s economic recovery is gaining momentum, with key indicators showing that collective efforts to rebuild one of Africa’s largest economies were starting to pay off.
He added government had committed more than R1-trillion in public funding for infrastructure projects over the next three years.
“During the course of this year, we need to double down on our efforts to grow investment and create jobs. We must seize the momentum we built and translate this into long-term gains for our economy,” the president said in his weekly newsletter on Monday.
The economy has shown resilience, with growth of 0.5% in the third quarter of 2025, marking the fourth consecutive rise driven by mining, trade and agriculture.
This was the economy’s longest period of sustained growth since the post-Covid recovery began in 2021.
The country was also removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist in October 2025, after a 33-month, intensive reform process that addressed 22 action items aimed at strengthening SA’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism framework.
“The economy has posted four consecutive quarters of growth. There has been a steady reduction in unemployment, while recent data released by Statistics South Africa shows that levels of poverty and inequality have declined considerably. Confidence in our economy is rising, the stock exchange has been performing well and the average inflation rate is the lowest in two decades,” Ramaphosa said.
“Late last year, SA exited the FATF grey list, which is an important signal of institutional improvement and a boost to investor confidence. We have also seen a sovereign credit ratings upgrade, reflecting strengthened fiscal credibility.”
There was no time to rest, the president said, noting: “With a strengthening currency and rising commodity prices, we have wind in our sails. Now we must steer our ship towards greater prosperity for all South Africans.”
The Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), a body of respected local and international economists, academics and practitioners, last week called on the government to translate recent positive developments into enduring growth by boosting public infrastructure spending and lowering the cost of doing business.
“Increasing infrastructure investment is not simply about spending more. It is about delivering projects that reduce the cost of doing business, unlock growth and create jobs,” Ramaphosa said.
“Council members expressed strong support for the programme of structural transformation in key sectors such as electricity, logistics and water. These interventions, which have brought an end to load-shedding and improved rail and port performance, aim to enable competition, improve the efficiency of network industries and reduce costs across the economy.”
Ramaphosa said a competitive electricity market was essential to bringing down the cost of electricity, as lower electricity prices were critical for inclusive growth and social development.
“Similarly, improving logistics performance in rail, ports and freight corridors remains essential to exports, industrialisation and job creation. In addition to boosting private investment, we need to achieve higher levels of public investment in infrastructure.”
In the coming days, Ramaphosa said cabinet would hold its annual lekgotla to outline the actions that would be taken across government and with social partners to achieve these goals: “Through these actions, by working together, we will ensure that the progress we’ve seen in the last year will have an impact on the lives of South Africans this year.”
He noted that over the last few years, government had laid a solid foundation for investment by “streamlining the regulations that have held back infrastructure projects, making it easier to pursue public-private partnerships, and establishing strong institutions such as Infrastructure South Africa and the Infrastructure Fund”.
“We need to build on this foundation by strengthening our state-owned enterprises and enabling them to invest at much higher levels.”
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