Constraints to Economic Growth in South Africa

Abstract

This chapter analyses the drivers and constraints on the rate of economic growth in South Africa from the 1950’s apartheid-era through to the democratic period post-1994. Key structural factors identified as impacting on the rate and composition of economic growth include the country’s history of racial injustice and exclusion, its industrial structure and linkages to the global commodity price cycle, the evolution of macroeconomic imbalances and related infrastructure investment failures, and the impact of weak state capacity and corruption. Thereafter, the chapter outlines a number of strategic policy interventions for overcoming constraints to inclusive economic growth in South Africa.