The South African GDP rose to 3 percent in the second quarter this year, the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced on Tuesday.
The increase in the economic growth in the second quarter was contributed by the manufacturing industry, finance, real estate, business services, wholesale, retail and motor trade, according to the Stats SA.
The GDP in the first quarter in 2013 was only 0.9 percent.
However, the GDP in the second quarter was slightly lower than the predicted target of 3.3 percent.
Since early this year, the South African economy has been negatively impacted by the global economic volatility and the domestic labor unrest in some sectors.
The South African economic growth in the second quarter was dragged by the volatile mining and quarrying industry, agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, the Stats SA said.
As for the GDP in the third quarter, some economists believed that it remains quite uncertain due to the continuing challenges at home and abroad.
In the recent days, the strikes have been spread from the auto sector to other sectors in South Africa.
To win next year's general elections, the South African biggest ruling party African National Congress has taken a series of measures to stimulate the economic growth.
The GDP for the first six months was up 2 percent compared with the same period of last year, said the Stats SA. "Our forecast for the annual economic growth in 2013 is 2.1 percent year on year versus 2.5 percent year on year in 2012," said a Nedbank economist.