(3 Minutes Read)
The June 2025 Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 50.1, signaling sluggish private sector activity and fuelling concerns about the long-term survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Small businesses in South Africa are feeling the heat as new data shows business confidence has fallen to its lowest level since July 2021.
The June 2025 Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 50.1, signaling sluggish private sector activity and fuelling concerns about the long-term survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The latest figures confirm what many entrepreneurs across the country already know: economic pressure is mounting. Power cuts, limited access to funding, and red tape continue to strangle growth, especially in underserved regions like second-tier cities and townships.
Many Black-owned SMEs in particular, rely heavily on government procurement contracts—a model some argue is no longer sustainable. Without diversification into sectors such as agriculture, real estate, franchising, or light manufacturing, experts warn that long-term resilience will remain out of reach.
There are growing calls for the public and private sectors to work together to ease regulatory burdens, invest in township economies, and expand financing opportunities for entrepreneurs locked out of traditional systems.
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Whether this moment of stagnation becomes a turning point will depend largely on how quickly policy and capital respond to the urgent needs of the country’s most dynamic — but most vulnerable — economic players.
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