Infrastructure reform key to up SA growth - study

South Africa must invest R200 billion to revive its frayed railways, half that amount again to upgrade water infrastructure, and tackle bottlenecks in both electricity and governance to achieve an economic growth target above 3% a year.

That's according to the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) at Stellenbosch University, which warned that without this spending the economy will remain stuck in low gear.

SA's economy has expanded by less than 1% on average for a decade, held back mismanagement, corruption and underinvestment by its state-owned logistics and power utilities. Economists polled by Bloomberg forecast 1.7% growth in 2025.