Business confidence in iLembe has hit an all-time recorded high, but familiar pressures still prevent the district from taking major steps forward.

This is according the recently released iLembe Business Confidence Index (iBCI), which records both a survey of local business confidence and a picture of actual economic activity. The iBCI is prepared biannually by the iLembe Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Enterprise iLembe.

For the second half of 2025, local economic activity hit 58.6 index points, while the survey aspect reached 52.5 points. The combined index of 55.5 is the highest mark recorded since the iBCI began in 2015.

“Moderating inflation, improved financial conditions, a stronger rand and firmer retail, tourism and construction activity supported business sentiment, despite overall economic growth remaining subdued,” said iLembe Chamber CEO, Cobus Oelofse.

“The KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity initially provided greater political stability. Business confidence was dampened by late 2025 as the NFP threatened to exit the GPU, a move that eventually materialised and triggered a legislative deadlock.”

By individual sector, tourism was the standout performer, improving by 14 points year-on-year to reach 58.8. Construction and property development (56.2) and agriculture (55.4) also hit positive numbers, while manufacturing (47.7) and retail (47.3) were moderately negative.

Market-related issues, namely market size, economic decline, competitiveness and adaptability were highlighted as primary business constraints by 50% of survey respondents. Public sector problems including service delivery and infrastructure provision, property rates and taxes and regulations and compliance were also widely listed.

“At local government level, ongoing governance, infrastructure and service delivery challenges continued to weigh on business confidence and investment decisions,” said Oelofse.

“At the KwaDukuza municipality, parallel investigations and regulatory processes involving KZN Cogta, the Special Investigating Unit and Nersa’s Electricity Infrastructure Audit further reduced planning certainty and investor confidence.”

Nevertheless, the iBCI findings paint a quietly positive picture of a district that continues to rebound from a difficult start to the 2020s.

The full iBCI is available at ilembechamber.co.za/insight-ilembe.

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