South Africa will not reach its growth target of 5% per year, President Jacob Zuma said in his State of the Nation Address.

The National Development Plan stipulates that South Africa’s economy needs to grow by at least 5% annually to make a meaningful dent in inequality, unemployment and poverty.

The World Bank has meanwhile adjusted the necessary growth rate upwards to more than 7% in order for the country to make significant strides in poverty reduction.

“Given the economic conditions I have painted, it is clear that we will not achieve that growth target at the time we had hoped to achieve it,” Zuma said.

“The tough global and domestic conditions should propel us to redouble our efforts, working together as all sectors. We cannot change the global conditions, but we can do a lot to change the local conditions.”

Fin24