By 
South Africa is facing a concerning trend reflective of its slow dying economy sparked by uncertainty, and lack of service delivery. In recent years to date, we have been witnessing multi-national companies operating in the country one after another announcing their exit.
Companies are allowed and have the right to make corporate strategic decisions, whether to invest or disinvest in a particular economy. What is more concerning is the reason behind the exit and its future impact on the domestic market.
Stats SA has reported a stagnant economy with a growing unemployment rate reaching 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025; this is coupled with some industries not performing well. The mining sector in particular, though production has improved, sales have taking a nose dive as global demand is on a decline.
Big companies in South Africa are shutting their doors and moving to a more stable economic environment in Europe, some are down scaling; whatever the course, it impacts badly on the image of the country’s economy. Something is not right, why is everyone leaving and what is government doing about it?
Amongst the companies leaving the shores of South Africa are Goodyear, who are the latest to make their announcement, this includes Shell, HSBC, Bain & Company, Anglo American with many more in the process to close down.
Pick n Pay is also closing down some of its underperforming stores across the country to increase profitability. All of this shows that South Africa’s economy is not conducive for business and investment, whether it is due to its policies or mere lack of determination to grow the economy, it is concerning and must be addressed soonest.
Common amongst all these companies leaving the South African market is what they have citing as their reason for leaving. They say service delivery is amongst the issues, I believe load-shedding has played a major role in this, also the bad roads in municipalities, irregular or lack consistent water supply which impacts on their operations, it is becoming expensive to operate in the country if you have to augment to what government is supposed to provide.
Furthermore, adjusting to the global shifts, the companies align their strategies accordingly and invest in other regions. This is worrisome as it implies that South Africa is not globally competitive.
South Africa is facing a sluggish economy with high interest rates, a weak consumer demand as affordability has become a serious challenge and the breadbasket shrinking for most households. Government spending has declined and there is generally a decline in investing in new projects.
The exit of these companies assassinates investor confidence on the country’s economy; these are big companies with serious influence, soon more and more companies will follow, we will witness industry after industry shutting down and the country left naked if something drastic in not done.
More and more people are going to lose their jobs, especially those working in the companies that are shutting down. This will add more strain to the economy with a high unemployment rate. A country with bad fiscal policies; with high unemployment rate, an unstable government composed by parties who hold diametrically opposed ideological position and who are talking past each other, obsessed with being in control and can’t put their egos aside for the good of the country, is not helping either.
At this rate, the country is heading for an industry collapse, political leaders need to come together and work with business in coming up with ways to keep the companies from leaving. Jobs need to be created so that people are able to live and buy, demand will increase and businesses will be profitable.
Leaders should not wait until it’s too late to do anything, we need investment, we need to industrialise as in yesterday and inflation needs to drop.
