South African small business owners are facing brutal reality checks. Fresh data shows barely 40% believe they can make it past the next 12 months without external lifelines—a figure that's remained stubbornly flat since early 2025. The survival squeeze isn't easing up. When four out of every ten entrepreneurs are counting down their runway in months rather than years, you're looking at systemic economic pressure, not isolated struggles. What's striking? The numbers haven't budged between H1 2025 and now, suggesting these aren't temporary growing pains but entrenched headwinds.