THEBE MABANGA
SOUTH Africa has just experienced calm before the storm as Statistics SA reported on Tuesday that gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 2,0% in the first quarter of 2020.
This would be up to and including the end of March when the National lockdown began, and two weeks after the National State of Disaster was declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Stats SA said mining and quarrying production decreased by 21.5% and contributed 1.7 percentage points to GDP growth.
Manufacturing contracted by 8.5% in the first quarter with seven of its ten sub sectors reporting negative growth over the period.
“The electricity, gas and water industry contracted by 5.6% in the first quarter, largely due to decreases in electricity distribution and water consumption,” the statistics agency said of the period when production began to slow down.
The construction industry continued its declining trend and decreased by 4.7%, with decreases reported for residential buildings, non-residential buildings and other
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