According to the economists, a series of internal factors including skills shortages, an underperforming education system, over regulation of certain areas of the economy, labour market regulation, political uncertainty, weak governance in certain state sectors, and insufficient infrastructure placed South Africa at a disadvantage compared to many other emerging markets.

The economists generally agreed that recent growth in South Africa had been mainly consumer driven. Too little attention had been devoted to productive centres of the economy, including mining, manufacturing, and agriculture.  The result was that South Africa consumed more than it produced. It also took little corrective action to ensure that production could escalate in future.

Some of the economists believed that key productive sectors – especially mining and agriculture – had even come under negative pressure from government. In addition, government had failed to address crime or other factors driving scarce skills out of the country.

The Institute predicted that growth rates were unlikely to exceed 4.5% of GDP for the foreseeable future. However, without growth rates closer to 6%-8% of GDP it was unlikely that the country would make sufficient headway in reducing poverty and inequality. According to the Institute higher growth rates, more than black economic empowerment policy, were necessary to ensure broader participation in the economy for all South Africans.   

On the positive side the Institute said that many of these impediments to growth were internal and could be resolved by changes to government policies. This, according to the Institute, would help to lessen the impact of external pressures on the economy such as high oil prices.

The Institute said that it remained to be seen whether the new ANC leadership would be bold enough to take policy decisions that might be unpopular in the short term but would, in the longer term, offer a sustainable path out of poverty.