As Winter slides into Spring, economic recovery is on the cards for South Africa, while environmental trouble continues to add strain to certain parts of the country.

South Africa out of recession

At the beginning of September, South Africa was declared free of technical recession, with the economy expanding by 2.5% in the second quarter of this year.
While this news is certainly cause for celebration, expectations should remain cautious: South Africa remains classified ‘junk status’ by ratings agencies, and economy instability remains a real threat.

Drought ravaged Western Cape suffers

The Western Cape continues to suffer through a record drought. With water restrictions continuing to tighten, some relief was had in the form of rains that nevertheless did not raise dams to needed levels.
This can be expected to have severe consequences, particularly for agriculture in the province.

Agriculture on the rise

In the rest of the country, the agriculture sector’s recovery was instrumental in pulling South Africa out of recession, along with finance and mining.
According to figures provided in Stats SA’s report, farmers are on track for a record-breaking maize crop at currently estimated levels.
This has the added effect of immediately reducing maize prices, providing relief for households across the country.