South Africa sidestepped the threat of a recession after annualised growth hit 0.7% in the third quarter of 2015, the South African Reserve Bank's (Sarb) latest quarterly review, released today (December 8), notes, but the agriculture sector remains a problem.

The "acceleration" in growth, from -1.3% in the second quarter, was largely down to a change in the real value added by the manufacturing sector, the review said. The tertiary sector also continued to show "solid growth" throughout the