SA economy shrinks on back of load shedding, KZN floods

 Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke released the results of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter on Tuesday.

He confirmed that the size of the economy in the second quarter was smaller than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.

 Maluleke said the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal and load shedding contributed to the decline.

"Manufacturing is the largest industry in KwaZulu-Natal, according to 2019 data, accounting for a fifth of national manufacturing production. The damage to factories and plants, and disruptions to logistics and supply chains, pulled national manufacturing output down by 5,9%. The biggest drags on growth were petroleum and chemical products, food and beverages, and transport equipment.”

He says trade, catering and accommodation were negatively impacted by both the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and power cuts across the country.

The industry recorded a contraction of 1,5% as floods damaged retail outlets and storage facilities.

There was also a loss of trading hours due to load shedding.

Maluleke said economic activity in the electricity, gas and water supply industry was hampered mainly by load shedding due to a lack of generation capacity.

"There were disruptions to water supply too, caused by both the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and drought in Eastern Cape.”

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