In our opinion, the executive changes initiated by President Zuma have put at risk fiscal and growth outcomes. We assess that contingent liabilities to the state are rising. We are therefore lowering our long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on the Republic of South Africa to ‘BB+’ from ‘BBB-‘ and the long-term local currency rating..
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Reason behind SA’s junk status credit rating – full S&P statement
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Zuma’s new excuse for SA’s problems “White monopoly capital”
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The rising talk about ‘white monopoly capital’ as an obstacle to economic inclusion in South Africa is a red herring. The call for radical economic transformation has grown louder following President Jacob Zuma’s 2017 State of the Nation Address. Accompanying these calls is a line of argument that says “white monopoly capital” is to blame..
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What is going to happen to our Economy now … Zuma tells Communist Party Gordhan is out
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Johannesburg – South African President Jacob Zuma told senior leaders of the South African Communist Party that he plans to fire Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The rand plummeted. Zuma told officials from the party, which is allied to his ruling African National Congress, during a meeting..
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Zuma pull out his guns – N24
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President Jacob Zuma took a strong stand at this weekend’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Irene in Gauteng, defending his position on the issue of land expropriation without compensation, and challenging his critics to read the ANC’s 2012 conference resolutions if they disagreed with his views. City Press heard that Zuma had “set the..
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Open Letter: White South Africa Faces Adapt Or Die Moment As ANC Talks Up Radical Economic Transformation
Racism will soon be a crime punishable by law
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Jacob Zuma claims that the ideology of racism remained firmly entrenched among some population groups. Practising racism and racial intolerance will soon be an offence punishable by law in South Africa, according to President Zuma. Addressing a small but very enthusiastic crowd at Victoria Grounds in King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, to mark Human Rights Day, Zuma..
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Leaked Letters Reveal ‘SARS Wars’ Showdown Between Gordhan And Moyane
Replacing South Africa’s finance minister, or his deputy, would carry a heavy cost
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Many see the decision by South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) to send the disgraced former CEO of the power utility Eskom to parliament as the precursor to another attack on the National Treasury and to remove finance minister Pravin Gordhan. The decision to give Brian Molefe a seat in the country’s parliament has..
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SAA to remain under intense government oversight – Gordhan – Budget 2017
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SAA will remain under intense government oversight, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in his report contained in National Treasury’s 2017 Budget Review, which he tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. Referring to recommendations made by the Select and Standing Committees on Finance on the 2016 Revised Fiscal Framework, Gordhan said the committees recommend that National Treasury..
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Gordhan ups social spending and squeezes the rich
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Despite trying circumstances, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced on Wednesday that the budget introduces new tax measures that target the rich and that social spending is prioritised to favour the poor. In his highly anticipated budget speech, Gordhan announced a new top personal income tax rate of 45% for those with taxable incomes of more..
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Conspiracy, disinformation and Zuma-Gordhan fight loom over budget
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A year after President Jacob Zuma began feuding with his Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan over control of the nation’s purse strings, the conflict appears to be coming to a head. When he presents his annual budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Gordhan will seek to keep state spending in check and fend off a junk credit..
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Mashaba ‘still pissed off’ – businessman Reddy on City Power investigation
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Mayor Herman Mashaba’s investigation into alleged corruption involving the city’s R1bn smart electricity meter tender is just petty politics, businessman Vivian Reddy said. Reddy is the owner of Edison Power which was awarded the billion rand tender to install smart meters throughout the municipality. The contract has been probed four times in the past by..
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ANC plans ‘constitutional revolution’ on land
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The government is planning a “constitutional revolution” to fast-track land reform, including considering expropriation without compensation. The ruling party also wants land reform to include restitution for “precolonial dispossession” before the 1913 Native Land Act came into force, and a cap on the amount of land an individual can own. With most South African land..
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The nuts and bolts of radical economic transformation
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At President Jacob Zuma’s second inauguration, he vowed that economic transformation would “take centre stage” during his last term of office. He promised that “the structure of the economy will be transformed through industrialisation, broad-based black economic empowerment and through strengthening and expanding the role of the state in the economy”. That the economy would..
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