Hon Chairperson and hon members, the financial meltdown in Europe poses a serious threat to South Africa's economic growth. The threat emanates from the fact that we export a good chunk of our manufactured goods to Europe. South Africa's economic growth will suffer severely if the Eurozone crisis is allowed to sink to levels similar to those of the crisis of 2008.
For instance, as hon Koornhof has said before me, after the financial crisis of 2008 South African exports to the European Union dropped by 35%, from E16,3 billion in 2008 to E10,4 billion in 2009. This badly affected our economic growth. Economic growth for that period fell from 5,1% in the first quarter of 2008 to -2,7% in the third quarter of 2009. Obviously, this led to massive job losses in all sectors of our economy.
But there is hope. Our trade patterns have changed considerably over the years. Chapter 2 of the 2012 Budget Review confirms this trend as follows:
A rising share of the exports to China (from an average of 4,2% between 2005 and 2008 to 13% in 2011) and to the SADC region has been accompanied by a decline in exports to the European Union, from 33% in 2005 to 21,6% in 2011.
At the present moment the European Union is no longer South Africa's largest trading partner. China overtook that region after the 2008 financial downturn. The change in trade patterns presents an opportunity to South African companies to export their products to African countries. [Time expired.]