You guys seem knowledgeable on most things, most of the time. there are three ratings agencies (S&P, Moody's and The Fitch Group). S&P dished out the rating but Moody's giving a report on Friday. That being said, the US was slapped with an unfavourable rating by the agency a while ago. Are we really going back to the 20%+ interest rates from the 80(that I've read about) or is it us being told to get our shit together? I feel like our media is very sensationalist in it's essence.

I guess what i am trying to figure out is that are we waking up in a situation akin to Zimbabwe tomorrow?

Also, is it really such a bad thing that our government is likely to be borrowed money from abroad AND I hear one method of appeasing these harsh critics is cutting back on the social grants programme. Isn't this what the "I pay tax in this country" people have wanted for a while?

Isn't this what the "I pay tax in this country" people have wanted for a while? --- If there were jobs then cutting social grants would be fine, but there are no jobs, next month there will be less jobs and at 20% interest rate (to attract worried investors) there will be very few jobs in the the future, the Genie is now out the bottle its going to be very hard medicine, at 17 to 1 on the rand for a prolonged period of time with 20% year on year interest, the grants and your salary are both going to be looking like a joke, basically what you will get a loaf of bread with in the near future will be the Old Pensioners Grant and your salary will buy a basket of food down at PnP , the grants were a problem when the rand meant something, even Cyrils "R15 an hour wage" for everyone is going to look hilliarus by year end if Mr Zuma and the Gupta pilot are still in control....

Like I said, S&P is only one of three top rating agencies. From what I've read, the quickest to dish out an unfavorable credit rating.

The reason for us being slapped with a junk status is because Eskom can't pay back that bloody loan. Us citizens also won't pay eTolls, so Sanral is seen as a bad collector. Treasury has been feeling to execute the things they've been saying they'll do and a slow GDP growth.

It honestly feels like we're all running around like headless chickens, but surely this COULD be a good thing? It was bound to happen, S&P wasn't impressed with the speech Gordhan gave in Feb anyway.

Zuma's leaving office in December, politicians who've been scared of him are finally finding their voices. I'm seeing a new chance to start over again.

#ZUMA - Not My President

Staggeringly the newly appointed Puppet Minster of Finance seems to feel the Junk Status is just a "small setback"

Referencing all the other nations similarly positioned as junk it would seem the setback is anything but small.

As much as the downgrade is a total fuck up, it has been a long time coming and the market has priced it in already.

JZ has been nailing us, without Vaseline, with all his shananigans for the last 5 years and we are now a confirmed third world African state!

But we going to feel the whack of it when the overseas portfolio managers and investors slowly start moving out of their positions and out of our junk status market.

Oh of course and when we have to borrow money from the World Bank we will get "special" rates

@daporra
Most important question of all -
How will all of this affect the price of fruit and veg?

LOL fruit and veg is safe it is the spares for my leaking lorry that is going to fuck me over!

Why do u expect the newly appointed finance minister to worry about junk status ?...After all junk identifies with junk hence no problem!....there now relax, becos the real protests and public rebellion is only starting next week.