Businerss Day logo, smaller.jpg Ratings agencies warn the ANC Natasha Marrian, Business Day, Johannesburg, 1 June 2016 International ratings agencies have warned the ANC about the effect of its palace politics on the economy, as the governing party's succession battle gains momentum. The issue came up in meetings between the ANC and Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) in the past two months, as the country faces the possibility of a credit downgrade. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe intimated on Tuesday that the raising of the party's 2017 elective conference by agencies was unfair, saying the party election did not amount to political instability, but reflected internal democracy. Head of the ANC's subcommittee on economic transformation Enoch Godongwana said in addition to the standard areas of interest - fiscal consolidation, economic growth and political risk - the agencies were concerned about the possible rise of populism and the introduction of populist policies. "Another set of issues is whether there are likely to be populist policies, political risk in the run-up to the election which may undermine fiscal consolidation," he said. Mantashe and Godongwana addressed journalists on Tuesday on the outcomes of the party's national executive committee's (NEC's) bi-monthly meeting in Pretoria at the weekend - during which a number of topics were on the agenda, including ways to revive SA's struggling economy - a few days before ranking agency S&P's ratings announcement on Friday. Mantashe said both ratings agencies had raised the political issue of the ANC's forthcoming 2017 conference when they had visited SA - Moody's in March and S&P in May. Mantashe pushed back on Tuesday, saying there was "no hullabaloo" when there was contestation in the Labour Party in the UK. He also said the ANC government was "not doing things to impress ratings agencies". Instead, it was doing what was good for the country. "Why should it be political instability when we go to a conference, we go to a conference every five years .. That is called internal party democracy. Why is it political instability when it is in SA, but it is seen as internal democracy when its in the developed world." President Jacob Zuma is expected to step down in 2017, and the race to succeed him is already simmering. While the ANC NEC did not discuss the apparent tension between Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan that has in the past affected currency and investor sentiment, Mantashe warned that the incessant focus on Gordhan was "dangerous" for the finance minister. "We must disabuse ourselves of ring-fencing the finance minister and putting him out there as an institution . you are actually harming him," he said. It was dangerous to do this as it was setting him up in a contest against the president, on the one hand, and raising the suspicion of his colleagues in Cabinet about this minister who has become an "institution", on the other. Godongwana said the looming ratings announcement was a concern to him due to its grave effect on the economy and society, as it would take years to come out of junk. On the Nkandla scandal, which saw Zuma receiving scathing criticism from the country's apex court, the NEC unsurprisingly decided "not to recall" the president after canvassing the views of its lower structures. The Constitutional Court found Zuma to have failed to uphold, defend and respect the highest law in the land in his handling of the public protector's report on upgrades to his private residence. "Branches emphasised the importance of unity of the movement . as we accept the apology (offered by Zuma). We also reminded ourselves that we should devise a formula for dealing with the mistakes we are committing," Mantashe said. Mantashe's office was tasked with looking into state capture after Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas admitted publicly that the Gupta family had offered him the post of finance minister ahead of Nhlanhla Nene's axing in December. But only one of the eight party members who came forward with information was prepared to make a written submission, fearing reprisals. The NEC, therefore, decided that the issue should be taken up by the individuals with the relevant state institutions such as the police, the public protector or the auditor-general. But Mantashe said the state capture debate was not off the table for good and would be with the ANC "for a long time". Zuma himself said has said that talk of state capture was "taking a small issue and making it a big issue", in stark contrast to his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, who said the ANC "is not for sale". The discussion is becoming a proxy debate between party warring factions. From: <http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/06/01/ratings-agencies-warn-the-anc> http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/06/01/ratings-agencies-warn-the-anc -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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