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Johannesburg - SA business owners are more optimistic about 2011 than they were about last year, a survey released on Wednesday shows.
"While the strong rand will no doubt make business conditions tough for some this year - particularly those with an export focus - it seems South African business owners continue to be optimistic about the nation's economic landscape for the year ahead," said Leonard Brehm, national chairman of Grant Thornton South Africa.
Grant Thornton's 2011 International Business Report's optimism/pessimism index shows an optimism balance by South African business owners of 64%, up 4% on last year's index.
This compared to a global optimism balance of 23% for 2011, and 24% for 2010.
An "optimism balance" is the proportion of business owners in South Africa reporting they are optimistic, less those reporting they are pessimistic.
Optimism could have slumped following last year's World Cup, but it had done the opposite.
However, respondents were less optimistic about investment in buildings, at 17% for 2011, compared to 25% last year.
"The construction sector also experienced significant retrenchments over the past two years," said Brehm.
"The decline for investment in buildings could indicate tough times ahead for the construction industry.
"No doubt the World Cup infrastructure and construction boom experienced during 2009 and 2010 may also have something to do with the pessimistic outlook in terms of construction projects for 2011."
The survey found Western Cape business owners were the most optimistic with a +72% balance, while Eastern Cape recorded the lowest optimism balance of 52%.
KwaZulu-Natal was at 69% and Gauteng 62%.
When it came to employment, levels of optimism differed significantly across the regions.
The overall level for South Africa was 30%.
The Western Cape was very optimistic at 42%, while the Eastern Cape was far less optimistic about employment prospects in 2011, recording just 16%.
Gauteng scored 33% and KwaZulu-Natal 26%.
