Global Analysis from the European Perspective. Preparing for the world of tomorrow




About South Africa, but not about long-haul travel

This is what life is like in what is supposedly Africa’s richest country. The figures speak for themselves:

  • The economy in perpetual stagnation. According to the OECD, GDP growth has averaged just 0.7 per cent over the last ten years.
  • Official unemployment stands at 4%!!! This is particularly true for young people (aged 15–34), 58% of whom are affected. They remain outside the labour market. This high unemployment rate contributes to crime. STATS SA reports that 64 murders per day were committed in the first quarter of 2025.
  • A large proportion of 10-year-olds cannot read with understanding; the same applies to more than 4 million adults. Although three-quarters of the population have access to the internet, most are unable to use it for more complex tasks.
  • Public debt is not only a financial challenge but also a social one, and is set to exceed 78 per cent of GDP by the end of 2025. The high cost of servicing this debt is limiting the government’s ability to fund social spending and public investment.
  • The energy shortage is another problem that is hampering economic activity and undermining the quality of life in the country. According to the OECD, power cuts reduced economic growth by 1.5% in 2023, when 289 days of outages were reported, compared with ‘only’ 69 days in 2024. The energy crisis is closely linked to the inefficiency of distribution management by the operator Eskom, which is effectively a monopoly in the field of energy supply in South Africa, where coal still accounts for almost 80 per cent of the mix. Eskom is constantly having to contend with criminals who vandalise distribution stations and steal transformers

Visit Kruger National Park, see Cape Town and Table Mountain, and be back in Europe in no time! 

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