Jonathan Oppenheimer, scion of the family that built Anglo American and De Beers into global mining powerhouses, urged the South African government to “get out of the way” of entrepreneurs. While small and medium-sized companies make up 91% of formal businesses in South Africa and account for more than a third of gross domestic product, weak economic growth and high running and compliance costs threaten their survival. More than half the country’s small businesses risk shutting down within a year under current cost-inflation conditions without outside help, an index compiled by Absa Group and the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry shows.
