Despite repeated negative shocks to South Africa’s economy, some recent economic performance indicators have been surprisingly positive. StatsSA recently recorded a national growth rate of 1,2% in GDP between the months of April and June of 2021, and 1% between the months of January and March 2021. During this same time period, national business confidence rose to its highest level in 13 quarters (since 2018). While this positive performance was experienced before the July 2021 unrest; it is still important to understand the reasons behind this resilience in economic activity. This datastory explores the reasons for this positive economic performance.