THEMBISA, South Africa — ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined comprehensive measures to make South Africa an attractive investment destination, downplaying the impact of a minimal 0.2% economic contraction in the second quarter of 2026. Speaking to supporters in Thembisa, the national leader emphasized that targeted reforms will drive stability, technological development, and renewed investor confidence across the nation.
Following six consecutive quarters of growth, the South African economy stalled, shrinking by 0.2% in the recent quarter. Ramaphosa noted that while the contraction has affected multiple sectors, the overall impact remains minimal rather than huge and overarching. He highlighted that the manufacturing sector has been heavily impacted by the ongoing Iran war, which subsequently disrupted international trade and mining exports. Consequently, the mining, trade, and manufacturing sectors—which collectively account for nearly a third of the country’s GDP—experienced slumps of 3%, 1.9%, and 1.8%, respectively.
Despite these macroeconomic headwinds, Ramaphosa expressed strong confidence in the country’s economic recovery. He stressed that sustainable economic growth is fundamentally driven by investment, certainty, stability, technological development, and a skilled workforce.
“We are implementing reforms to make South Africa more attractive to investment, both for internal and external investors,” Ramaphosa stated. He added that renewing and reforming the economy is precisely the focus needed to push economic growth forward, ensuring that investors take notice and are willing to commit their capital to the country.
Shifting to political matters, the ANC President expressed optimism that the party’s legal challenge regarding its municipal candidate list will be resolved swiftly. On Monday, the ANC filed papers with the electoral court disputing the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision not to register 181 party candidates across six municipalities, including areas in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the Free State.
Ramaphosa characterized the registration issue as a “little hiccup” that affects only about 3% of the names the party submitted, expressing confidence that a solution is forthcoming. The ANC has attributed the error to technical difficulties with the IEC’s online candidate nomination system, alleging that the system’s final electronic confirmation step failed to close properly during the final submission phase.
In response to these technical claims, the IEC has firmly reiterated its stance that it will not grant extensions to any political party or independent candidates to capture or amend their candidate details, maintaining strict adherence to the established electoral timeline.