South Africa’s mining production plummeted by nearly 15% year-on-year in April, with gold production slumping 27.8%, platinum group metals output shrinking 22.6% and coal production falling 14.7%. The poor performance has been attributed to strikes, electricity and rail disruptions, and ongoing bottlenecks at the country’s ports. The worse-than-expected performance is all the more painful as it comes amid high commodity prices, which have helped prop up national finances at a time when the economy is still struggling to recover from the Covid shock.