Within days of the coalition agreement in early July, ArcelorMittal reversed a decision to shut two steel plants that support 80 000 jobs. Soon after, Qatar Airways bought a stake in South African airline SA Airlink. A R1.2-billion car parts facility to supply Toyota, which just three years ago said it might leave the country, has since opened and Anglo American announced an R11-billion iron-ore investment.
"This has been a difficult 10 to 15 years, but there's a much more positive outlook," Kobus Verster, CEO of the steelmaker's local unit, said in an interview at Vanderbijlpark Works , Africa's biggest steel mill that opened in 1952 south of Johannesburg. "We've got a great shot at this to make it sustainable," he said of the construction steel facilities in Vereeniging and Newcastle.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, rampant corruption, erratic lawmaking and hostile relations between business and the state deterred investors - and in the May election helped cost the ANC its majority for the first time since the end of whites-only rule in 1994. Economic expansion averaged less than 1 over the past decade, outpaced by population growth.
Now, the new government, the sudden end to years of crippling power outages and a decision to allow private participation in the country's electricity, freight-rail and ports are seen as a chance to reignite growth. A backlog in work permit applications has been halved key climate and energy legislation has been passed.
Business leaders expect the coalition government - stocked with opposition members in the cabinet - to perform better because of increased competition and as a chastened ANC will need successes to bolster waning support.
