Johannesburg – The decision by Fitch Ratings to affirm its sovereign credit rating at “BBB-” and revise down its outlook to “negative” was clear evidence that the politics was killing the economics in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance said on Friday.
Fitch Ratings revised South Africa’s outlook to negative from stable due to political risks and policy uncertainty within government, in-fighting within the ruling African National Congress, and weak economic growth.
Despite noting that the economy may have started recovering, Fitch identified “political risk” as the key “rating driver” in South Africa.
The DA’s spokesperson on finance David Maynier said the “infighting within the ANC” and “ANC factional battles”, as cited by Fitch, had the effect of distracting policymakers and leading to mixed messages, which undermined investor confidence and economic growth.
Maynier said this also undermined efforts to improve governance and the streamlining of State-Owned Enterprises.
“The fact is that the decision by Fitch to revise its sovereign credit rating to BBB- (Negative Outlook) is a massive indictment of President Jacob Zuma’s leadership on the economy in South Africa,” Maynier said.
African News Agency