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ActionSA remains deeply concerned about South Africa’s dismal growth prospects. Today’s GDP figures for the third quarter of the year show that the economy grew by just 0.5% between July and September, yet another warning sign that the Government of National Unity (GNU) is running an economy stuck in first gear.

For almost 18 months, South Africans have been betrayed by a coalition government that has failed to produce a single credible plan to address the country’s stalled growth and deepening unemployment crisis.

Economic growth has remained almost non-existent since the formation of the GNU, with today’s results confirming a meagre 0.5% for Q3 of 2025. These numbers represent more than just statistics; they are a damning indictment of a government unable and apparently unwilling to work together to deliver solutions. The consequence is that every day more South Africans go home without work, are forced to close their businesses, or go to bed hungry.

South Africa’s cumulative growth for the year is just 1.2%. In stark contrast, emerging and developing economies are growing at 4.2%, and Sub-Saharan Africa at 4.1%. While external pressures such as global tariff uncertainty affect all countries, South Africa’s stagnation is self-inflicted, the product of a GNU without a coherent plan to kickstart growth, and one too often responsible for its own economic woes.

While the legal economy suffocates, illicit markets flourish. The GNU limps along at barely 1% growth while criminal markets surge at multiple-percentage-point rates: illicit alcohol volumes have expanded by more than 6% annually since 2017, and an estimated three out of every five cigarettes sold in South Africa, around 60%, are now illicit.  

Government’s failure to act decisively on illicit trade drains tens of billions in revenue that should be fighting unemployment, rebuilding law enforcement, and restoring essential public services. It also throttles the legitimate economy by forcing compliant businesses to compete with criminal syndicates that ignore taxes, safety standards, and the rule of law. 

South Africans deserve a government that treats economic growth as a mission, not a messaging exercise. ActionSA will continue to push for a decisive economic agenda, one that rebuilds state capacity, crushes illicit trade, restores policy certainty, and puts South Africans back to work.

Issued by ActionSA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip