The leader‚ a statement said‚ congratulated “government‚ business and labour on the good news that the South African economy grew by a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in the second quarter‚ which was more than the 2.7% quarter which was expected by most economists”.
“The unexpected growth announced by Statistics SA was driven by 8.1% increase in manufacturing and 11.8% in mining and quarrying. Exports are also up by 18% and imports down by 5%‚” it added.
Zuma said the “latest figures indicate that our economy is resilient and has the potential to grow even more despite the challenging domestic and global headwinds that it faces”.
“This is very good news and gives hope to our people. We congratulate the social partners on this achievement. The cooperation between government‚ business‚ labour and the community sector has yielded results and can only take the country further towards inclusive growth and much-needed jobs‚” he said.
Zuma again rolled out the “Nine Point Plan” through which “government will continue to implement the National Development Plan”.
It consists of the “following intervention areas”:
- Revitalisation of the agriculture and agro-processing value-chain;
- Advancing beneficiation (adding value to our mineral wealth);
- More effective implementation of a higher impact IPAP; . - Unlocking the potential of SMME‚ co-ops‚ township and rural enterprise;
- Resolving the energy challenge; . - Stabilising the labour market; . - Scaling-up private-sector investment;
- Growing the Ocean Economy;
- Cross-cutting Areas to Reform‚ Boost and Diversify the Economy which are: science‚ technology and innovation; water and sanitation; transport infrastructure; broadband rollout; and state-owned companies.
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