Reuters reports that the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) said on Tuesday after participation in talks with Fitch that the ratings agency was very concerned that SA’s economic and political situation was not improving.
In April, Fitch cut SA’s debt to sub-investment, citing the recent cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma. Fedusa general secretary Dennis George commented: “They wanted to know how we see the future and what we see happening at the ANC elective conference in December.” He went on to say: “Fitch are very concerned about what is happening in the country and the fact that things are not getting better, they’re getting worse. They also agreed with us that we can’t keep bailing out the state-owned companies.” Government guarantees to state firms are set to increase to nearly R500 billion in 2017. Fitch was not immediately available for comment.
- Read this report by Mfuneko Toyana in full at Moneyweb
- Read Fedusa’s press statement issued prior to the talks at SA Labour News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page