South Africa has been on a steady path of deindustrialisation for a number of decades. The manufacturing sector was also disproportionately affected by the recent ‘Great Recession’ and has failed to recover to precrisis levels. However, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies believes government’s ongoing Industrial Policy Action Plan, or Ipap, is helping to rein in the deindustrialisation trend and that it is starting to lay the platform for future reindustrialisation.