South Africa faces structural reforms commitment tests

Significance

That is well above the less than 1% average growth rate over the past eight years but little more than half the IMF’s forecast for global recovery, reflecting South Africa’s inability to deliver long-promised structural reforms to power its recovery and boost its longer-term growth rate.

Impacts

• The government will struggle to contain business and investor unease surrounding a prospective land expropriation bill.
• Probes into Eskom's CEO, including over alleged racism, will raise questions about and complicate the task of turning the utility around.
• With Ramaphosa facing an ANC policy conference and local elections, reform measures could falter as he attempts to secure his power base.