Blame Gordhan for junk ratings – former EFF treasurer Moonsamy

Former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) treasurer Magdalene Moonsamy on Tuesday said South Africans should squarely put the blame for the country’s junk credit ratings downgrade by S&P Global and Fitch on former finance minister Pravin Gordhan.

Speaking at a seminar entitled: Is the post-apartheid state unravelling?, Moonsamy said Gordhan had presided over the country becoming one of the most unequal societies in the world, along with Brazil.

“In 2014, when we became the most unequal society against Brazil, it was Pravin Gordhan who was minister at the time that took us there. The minister of finance is sometimes to be the weather man, he is meant to ensure when the storm is coming we are ready.

“We cannot allow ourselves to say this current dispensation has depleted the state to the point that we have junk status. It was in the hands of a financial administration in the form of the same minister. That minister knew there was a junk status coming,” Moonsamy said.

The former EFF treasurer – who’s recently also been critical of the leadership of her former party and its decision to support the DA’s rise to power in Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay – said black people in the country continued to suffer as they did during apartheid.

“What we know is that the wealthy are not going to be affected by junk status because they don’t need credit. They are not the facilitators or users of credit. They may be the dispensers of it, but they are not directly involved with the need for it,” she said.

The dialogue hosted by the SA Association of Public Administration and Management discussed issues of inequality, President Jacob Zuma’s controversial Cabinet reshuffle and its implications, as well as the notion of “white monopoly capital”.

The event’s panelists included trade unionist Zwelinzima Vavi, Black First Land First’s Andile Mngxitama, and Professor Mcebisi Ndletyana from the University of Johannesburg.

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