South Africa: Stability Under Pressure in The Resolve Quarterly, Q1 2026
Download the Resolve Quarterly, Q1 2026.
The first quarter of 2026 finds South Africa on a more stable footing, but not yet on a decisively stronger trajectory. Macroeconomic conditions improved, with inflation easing to target, financial markets firming early in the year, and both business and consumer sentiment recovering from late-2025 lows. Operational gains in energy and freight logistics further reinforced a sense of incremental progress.
Yet this improvement remains incomplete and uneven. Growth is still constrained by structural bottlenecks, confidence is divided across income groups and sectors, and the broader economic outlook continues to depend on reforms translating into tangible gains in infrastructure and investment. By quarter-end, renewed geopolitical volatility — most notably the escalation of conflict involving Iran — had already begun to test the durability of earlier optimism and expose South Africa’s continued sensitivity to global shocks.
Politically, the Government of National Unity (GNU) remains intact and functional, but under increasing strain. A firmer fiscal stance and clearer prioritisation of crime, municipal failure and institutional weakness point to a government more focused on core risks. At the same time mounting diplomatic tensions and exclusion from major international forums highlight the rising external costs of South Africa’s foreign policy positioning.
This edition of The Resolve Quarterly provides detailed analysis of an economy stabilising but not accelerating, and a political system holding together while operating under tighter constraints. We examine the limits of recent progress, the growing pressure on state capacity, and the increasing interaction between domestic fragility and a more hostile global environment.
In This Edition:
- Chairman’s Insight
- CEO’s Perspective
- Economic Landscape
- Political Dynamics
- In defence of the cheeseburger
- Children and their educational issues need a voice every month of the year
- When Hubris Trumps Alliances – Panic at Davos
- Industry needs to talk government’s language to be heard before it’s too late
- Government says ‘jobs’ — then kills one of SA’s biggest local economies
- South Africa Is Winning the Loadshedding Battle — and Losing the Jobs War
- The fedora, the budget and the fiscus
- Strategy in an era of constant crisis
- Standard Bank needed to be simpler, faster and more visible
- When businesses have to teach economics, something is wrong
- Another fuel hike, another step towards deindustrialisation
- Perils of the interview in Interview Magazine and word to the wise on the new media
- Contact Us
