President Zuma congratulates social partners on economic growth
President Jacob Zuma has congratulated Government, business and labour following the news that the South African economy grew by 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2016, which was more than the 2.7 percent which was expected by most economists.
The unexpected growth announced by Statistics SA was driven by 8.1 percent increase in manufacturing and 11.8 percent in mining and quarrying.
Exports are also up by 18 percent and imports down by 5 percent.
"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," said President Zuma.
He added that a durable solution to the country's economic challenges lies in consolidating the social compact between government, business and civil society. "This is a process we are focusing our respective efforts on as we move forward," said President Zuma.
The President said Government will continue to implement the National Development Plan, through the Nine Point Plan that we developed as a short-term implementation plan to reignite growth.