Ratings agency lashed over cabinet reshuffle warning
The head of Standard & Poor’s in South Africa, Konrad Reuss, came under fire from the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) over his comments that a cabinet reshuffle will impact on the country’s review by the agency later this year.
ANCWL secretary-general Meokgo Matuba said Reuss’s remarks left a lot to be desired.
South Africa is facing another review in the next six months by rating agencies after surviving a downgrade to junk status last year.
Twice the country managed to stay just one notch above the junk status after the review by the rating agencies.
Meokgo called on Reuss to desist from these remarks as they were intended to scare South Africans on a possible downgrade.
“When speaking in a panel during discussions on the outlook for Africa at the Deloitte Africa 2017 outlook conference, Mr Reuss allegedly indicated that amongst other factors that will impact on South Africa’s institutional assessment by S&P will be a cabinet reshuffle,” said Matuba.
“The utterances by Reuss are a clear indication that S&P is not an apolitical institution and has interests on who has to be a Cabinet member,” she said.
She added that S&P was undermining the prerogative of President Jacob Zuma to appoint a cabinet member at the time of his own choosing.
She warned that the rating agency cannot dictate to Zuma or the ANC on how to conduct the business of the state. Matuba said Zuma consults the ANC before making any changes to his executive.
Speculation is already rife that former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe is on his way to the cabinet. Molefe is slated to replace Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan after the State of the Nation address.
It has also been reported that Zuma wants outgoing African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to be in the cabinet.
Dlamini-Zuma is one of the front runners with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed Zuma at the ANC’s elective conference in Johannesburg in December.
The succession battle has intensified in recent weeks despite the ANC national executive committee warning party leaders and members to desist from the succession debate.