The Operation Vulindlela (OV) task team has reported on progress made during the third quarter of the second phase of the government’s flagship economic reform initiative, which the government is satisfied with. OV, launched in 2020, was designed to fast-track structural reforms aimed at removing constraints on investment, infrastructure development and job creation, areas widely seen as critical to unlocking higher growth. The latest estimates by the National Treasury for South Africa’s economic growth in 2026 are 1.5%, a rate that economists view as insufficient to address the country’s challenges.
During the delivery of theprogress reporton Friday at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the task team sounded fairly satisfied with progress made thus far. However, if the economic reform initiative was established almost six years ago, and the country’s economy is still struggling to grow in a meaningful way, can OV really help and deliver? Professor Waldo Krugell, an economist at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences atNorth-West University (NWU), toldThe Citizenthat OV is doing good work and making progress.
However, they still lack actual investment resources, which are vital. “They try to set up processes and unblock systems,” he said. “They are what they were really good at, for example, visa reforms, but make much slower progress with complicated practical stuff at Eskom and Transnet, where reforms are even sometimes contested.” “So, their work is crucial for economic growth, but will drive growth in a very indirect way.
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The biggest win will be when the progress they are making ignites private sector business confidence and investment. Those are the actual drivers of growth.” Finance Deputy Minister David Masondo said the focus remains on transforming the electricity sector, modernising the freight logistics sector, ensuring reliable access to safe drinking water, attracting skills, investment and tourism, and improving the delivery of basic services and infrastructure. “Third quarter has once again demonstrated how critical structural reforms are to our economic trajectory, and why we must continue to press forward with urgency,” he said. “We recorded progress across several cross‑cutting areas, from regulatory and policy improvements to institutional restructuring, and the expansion of private sector participation and investment.”
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