Up from 2.7% in the first three months, South Africa's economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the second quarter of this year, the national data office said Tuesday.
A recovering mining sector was the greatest contributor to the improved quarter-on-quarter growth in Africa's economic powerhouse, contributing 1.5 percentage points, according to Statistics South Africa.
Real gross domestic product grew 3% in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
Nominal GDP was estimated at 788 billion rands (US$93 billion), the agency said.
Mining expanded by 31.2% in the period, compared to a 16.8% contraction in the first quarter, with platinum, diamond and coal contributors to growth.
Manufacturing shrank by 1%, however.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast 2.6% growth for the country for 2012 and 3.4% in 2013, while the central bank expects 2.7% and 3.8% for the same periods.
South Africa's economy grew by 3.1 percent in 2011.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
