{"id":90221,"date":"2025-02-25T07:34:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T07:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=90221"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:37:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:37:42","slug":"south-africa-in-10-charts-measuring-the-state-of-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/south-africa-in-10-charts-measuring-the-state-of-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"SA in 10 charts: Measuring the true state of the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Growing South Africa’s economy so jobs can be created and people can be raised out of poverty is the government\u2019s \u2018most urgent task\u2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his state of the nation address<\/a> on 6 February 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A target of at least 3% growth has been set. It\u2019s been a while since South Africa\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) \u2013 a key measure of the country\u2019s economic performance \u2013 has grown by 3%. In 2023, GDP growth was 0.7% and the IMF projects 2024\u2019s at 0.8%. 2025 is expected to be better at 1.5% growth \u2013 still not 3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Electricity supply<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

State power utility Eskom has been a major barrier to economic growth because of its underperforming power stations. But in 2024, the country began to see some light at the end of loadshedding\u2019s long dark tunnel. And then, after managing 10 months of uninterrupted power supply, a stage 3 alert was called on 31 January. It lasted only 37 hours, a mere blip compared to what we\u2019ve gone through before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks later, stage 6 loadshedding was announced after a number of unit failures at the Camden, Majuba and Medupi power stations. Eskom cited a loss of nearly 3,900MW<\/a> (on top of the more than 7,000MW that was offline due to planned maintenance). Electricity and\u00a0energy minister Kgosientsho <\/strong>Ramokgopa described the return of loadshedding for the second time in less than a month as a setback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Energy availability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the whole, Eskom\u2019s power stations seem to be performing relatively well. The energy availability factor \u2013 the average percentage of installed capacity that\u2019s in working order and ready to run if needed \u2013 has improved compared with this time last year and it is definitely better than in 2023, South Africa\u2019s worst year of loadshedding. But it is still below 60%. Is there any other country where people watch their power stations like this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Solar installations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his state of the nation address, Ramaphosa praised South Africans for their resilience. Our \u2018boer-maak-\u2019n-plan attitude\u2019 manifested during the long years of loadshedding, with people taking matters into their own hands by installing an estimated 6,178MW of rooftop solar power capacity. This is the equivalent of two power stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Energy supply<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t talk about electricity without mentioning how it gets to us. Areas with some of the best solar and wind resources \u2013 namely the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape \u2013 have run out of grid capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom needs to increase capacity and build more transmission lines. In its 2024 annual report, the power utility said it was exploring ways to increase its transmission line build rate to 1,400km a year. It\u2019ll have to kick things up more than a notch to meet that goal: last year, for example, only 74km of lines were built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Freight rail network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another strain on the economy has been the collapse of freight rail transport. Ramaphosa noted that private rail operators now have access to the freight rail network, allowing them to increase the volume of goods transported by train. The infrastructure remains state owned. \u2018This will ensure that South African minerals, vehicles and agricultural produce reach international markets, securing jobs and earning much-needed revenue for our fiscus,\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unemployment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2024 was 31.9%, slightly lower than the 32.1% recorded for the same quarter in 2023. But it\u2019s still high. Young people are the most affected, with 60% of the labour force in the 15 to 24 age group unemployed. Many of them are likely searching for their first job but are struggling to find one, which is heartbreaking. The unemployment rate for those aged between 25 and 34 is 40%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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National debt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A big chunk of the country\u2019s money is spent on servicing debt: R389-billion in 2024, according to the National Treasury. That\u2019s more than was spent on basic education (R323-billion), health (R274-billion) or on peace and security (R250-billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The government\u2019s debt-to-GDP ratio was 74.7% in the 2024\/25 financial year. The debt-to-GDP ratio measures a country\u2019s total debt as a percentage of its GDP, which helps assess its ability to repay its debt. A decade ago, the government said it wanted to prevent debt from rising to 40% of GDP \u2013 a mark that has long been passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Government spending<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Government expenditure has exceeded revenue every year since democracy except in two years: the 2006\/07 and 2007\/08 financial years. Since the global financial crash hit in 2008, it has been pretty much downhill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what will the government do to fix the situation? Increase VAT? Raise taxes? Cut spending? We\u2019ll just have to wait for the rescheduled budget speech to find out. In the meantime, we might just turn these charts into an interactive dashboard to help us keep track of the state of the nation with data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n