Business confidence bounced back in August, after it plunged to a 12-year low in July, supported by some short-term improvements, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) reported on Thursday.

The Sacci Business Confidence Index (BCI) climbed by 4.1 points from 90.9 in July, to 95 in August; however, the BCI was still 3.6 points below the August 2011 reading.

“Only four sub-indices were negative on a monthly basis compared to six in July 2012. On an yearly basis, nine of the thirteen sub-indices improved and four were negative,” Sacci reported.

“The sub-indices representing the financial environment were balanced between being negative or positive on the business mood while the sub-indices for real economic activity were dominated by positive movements, with only building construction contracting,” the chamber stated.

Business confidence increased despite the protests and ensuing violence and intimidation at platinum miner Lonmin’s Marikana mine, which dominated the local business environment in August.

“The improvement in business confidence during the month of August despite the events in the mining industry, was evidence of the resilience of South African businesses in a challenging environment,” Sacci said.

The chamber stated that the diversity of the South African economy rendered it less vulnerable to specific events in any sector, for instance mining. However, Sacci remained concerned that while the sector remained under severe operational and competitive pressures, mines had also been burdened by the militant labour behavior that undermined the sector’s investment appeal.

On Tuesday, the Rand Merchant Bank and Bureau for Economic Research Business Confidence Index showed that business confidence had recovered partially in the third quarter, but that most of the respondents were still downbeat about prevailing business conditions.