He told Parliament, in Cape Town, that investment in the economy by both the public and private sectors had been increasing at about 11% and that the overall public infrastructure spending had grown by a yearly average of 15,8%.
In October, government announced that it had materially scaled up its public-infrastructure spend to R409-billion, from an earlier R372-billion, earmarking the additional funding to further strengthen its plans for power infrastructure, roads, commuter rail, housing, bulk infrastructure and research and development.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel also said in his mid-term Budget that the expenditure on public investment would swell by a further R150-billion a year by 2010.
“It (infrastructure spending) forms part of government's broader capital-investment programme, focused on creating economic opportunities for businesses and individuals, and progressive improvements in household living conditions,” Manuel said at the time.
Mbeki also reported on Friday that the economy was enjoying the highest average growth rate over the last 12 years, growing at more than 4,5% over the last two and a half years.
South Africa is aiming to provide a platform for the country's accelerated growth, which it targeted at 6% a year of GDP.
Over the last three years, the country managed to lift the number of employed people by half-a-million a year and the South African economy had created around 1,5-million jobs.
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