Zuma congratulates 'Team SA' on maintaining rating status

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has congratulated government, business, labour, and all South Africans after the three major credit rating agencies kept South Africa's sovereign debt credit rating status above “junk status”.

“We congratulate Team South Africa, particularly government, business, and labour, for ensuring that the country's sovereign debt credit rating status is not downgraded to junk status. Unity in action and hard work have paid off against a very volatile global economic climate.

“Working together as government, business, and labour we can overcome the current economic challenges and we must continue working hard and creatively to reignite growth so that jobs can be created for our people,” Zuma said.

He assured international investors that South Africa remained an important and strategic investment destination. Following the announcements last week by Fitch Ratings and Moody's investor Service to retain South Africa's ratings status above junk level, Standard and Poor's Financial Services on Friday downgraded South Africa's long-term currency rating from BBB+ to BBB.

In a separate statement, Democratic Alliance spokesman David Maynier welcomed the decision by Standard and Poor's to maintain an investment grade sovereign credit rating, with a negative outlook, for South Africa.
“The fact that Stand
ard and Poor's has not downgraded its sovereign credit rating to 'junk status' amounts to a second stay of execution for South Africa. However, Standard and Poor's once again raised serious concerns about political dynamics stating that 'political events have distracted from growth enhancing reforms' in South Africa.

” All the rating agencies had now raised concerns about political dynamics ‘infighting within the ANC, ANC factional battles, and political infighting’ underlining the fact that it was the politics that was killing economics in South Africa. It was time for the ANC government to get its act together and begin implementing the structural reforms necessary to boost economic growth and create jobs in South Africa.

“And, in in the end, contrary to what President Jacob Zuma thinks, it is a 'big deal' to avoid 'junk status', and the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, together with the team at National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank, deserve full credit for their hard work avoiding a sovereign credit ratings downgrade of South Africa,” Maynier said.