{"id":842211,"date":"2025-11-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=842211"},"modified":"2025-11-06T14:46:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T12:46:17","slug":"dark-clouds-for-two-of-south-africas-largest-employers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/842211\/dark-clouds-for-two-of-south-africas-largest-employers\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark clouds for two of South Africa’s largest employers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s agricultural and manufacturing sectors are facing extreme pressure amid heightened global uncertainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sectors are key employers in South Africa, and are among the largest exporters in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to agriculture, Casey Sprake, an Economist at Anchor Capital, said that the sector is one of South Africa\u2019s largest employers and a key driver of rural development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sector also has direct implications for livelihoods, fiscal health, and social stability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest data from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) also showed that agricultural exports rose by around 8% YoY to R71.5 billion in Q2 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was 60% higher than Q2 2020 and almost double the value recorded pre-pandemic in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importance, on the other hand, fell by 6%, marking the first decline in agricultural imports in five years, leading to a healthier net-trade position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeyond the numbers, the economic implications are clear. In a context of muted national trade, agriculture\u2019s outperformance is helping to steady the external accounts and support the rand,\u201d said Sprake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRising export receipts and lower imports provide a valuable buffer against global headwinds.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Sprake said that sustaining this momentum will not be easy, especially due to structural bottlenecks, including port congestion and rail inefficiencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising input and transport costs also continue to erode competitiveness and limit the pace of export expansion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese logistical constraints act as a hidden tax on trade, often offsetting the productivity gains achieved on farms and in processing facilities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout faster reform and investment in transport and port infrastructure, the sector\u2019s full potential will remain constrained.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global dynamics are also changing, with protectionist measures, disease-related trade disruptions, and climatic volatility posing major threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the US tariff move illustrates how quickly access to major markets can narrow, especially in an increasingly fragmented global trading landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo navigate this environment successfully, South Africa will need both diplomatic agility and strong domestic capacity, thereby ensuring that its agricultural products remain competitive, compliant, and market-ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturing bleeds <\/h2>\n\n\n
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While the agricultural sector has seen substantial growth over the last decade, this has not been the case for the manufacturing sector, which has haemorrhaged jobs over the same period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by Daily Investor<\/a>, between 2008 and 2024, the manufacturing sector shed about 450,000 jobs, driven by South Africa\u2019s deindustrialisation over this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sector\u2019s recent struggles also include high tariffs, global competition and local headwinds as well, such as ArcelorMittal South Africa\u2019s long steel plants being wound down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coface economists Aroni Chauduri and No\u00e9mi David highlighted the struggles facing the manufacturing sector over the past few decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there have been employment gains in the services sector at a compound annual growth rate of 1.4%, the manufacturing sector has seen a compound annual growth rate of -1.5%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaudri and David noted that manufacturing\u2019s declining investment aligns with South Africa\u2019s poor economic performance and low levels of investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s economy has seen an annual average growth decline from 4% in 2008 to 0.8% or less over the past two decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, South Africa has seen a massive deindustrialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deindustrialisation is attributed to structural and cyclical factors, including supply-side constraints on energy and transportation, lower industrial demand, and China\u2019s growing manufacturing dominance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matters have only been made worse by the US\u2019s latest tariffs in South Africa, with the bulk of locally manufactured goods exported to the US now subject to import tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US is South Africa\u2019s third-largest export market for vehicles, with exports reaching R35 billion in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest tariffs are thus expected to reduce South Africa\u2019s competitiveness in the US market, especially as tariffs are far lower for other competitors. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Agriculture and manufacturing have seen very different paths over the last decade, but both are facing extreme pressures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":842214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11827,3793],"class_list":["post-842211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-anchor-capital","tag-coface"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842211"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842234,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842211\/revisions\/842234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}