It has finally happened! Ratings Agency Standards & Poor’s has downgraded South Africa to Junk status. The downgrade comes just after South African President Jacob Zuma reshuffled his cabinet sacking the Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas. The cabinet reshuffle saw former minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba redeployed to National Treasury as Finance Minister. Zuma received widespread criticism by opposition parties and civil rights organisations. Although the downgrade has also been widely questioned by many academics some are dubbing it as “Dubious”. Hours after the downgrade, also ratings agency Moody’s confirmed that it would also be placing the country on review for a downgrade. Junk status has a number of dire consequences for both the country, and its people. It affects future investment, currency, interest rates, and employment, among other things
• Patrick Bond: A political and economic analyst:
• Lullu Krugel, Chief economist at the group KPMG
• Mkuseli Jack, Save South Africa convenor
