Even in the dry tones of economic jargon, it's not hard to see that South Africa is in a slump. Last year started with a negative growth rate before rebounding slightly in the later quarters. Although the country avoided recession, it didn't encourage optimism around an underperforming economy. Even the government’s own National Development Plan requires an eventual average growth rate of five percent annual GDP. Credit agencies gave the country a ratings smack and South Africa has a climb ahead of it even just to reach growth highs like 2011's 3.7 percent.

But economists are upbeat about 2015, at least in the short term. The Nedbank Economic Unit predicts a growth rate of 2.6 percent due to improvements in mining and consumer spending. But those are shaky pillars. At the start of 2014, the Treasury had expected the year to yield 2.7 percent before platinum belt strikes changed the tide.So 2.6 percent is not really a positive number, just a return to normality.