With 249 seats, the ANC commands a strong majority in the 400-member parliament.
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday amended the gathering point and the route for its “March for Change” from Luthuli House to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg to ensure the safety of protesters.
Zuma said: “For over a decade South Africa has grappled with the global economic downturn”. Mr Gordhan fiercely opposed Mr Zuma’s proposal for a massive nuclear programme that would require huge quantities of uranium – and guess who owns some of South Africa’s biggest uranium deposits?
This after leaders in the ANC and its alliance partners criticised Zuma for axing Gordhan and Mcebisi‚ which they said was based on a dubious intelligence report that accused Gordhan and Mcebisi of plotting with worldwide backers to overthrow the government.
Following momentous events unleashed last week by President Jacob Zuma the NRLC and Church Leaders have made a decision to release the following statement.
Cosatu, along with the South African Communist Party and the ANC, was at the forefront of the effort to dislodge white-minority rule in South Africa that led to non-racial elections in 1994.
“The loss of the rating will bolster opponents of President Zuma, who will use it as evidence that his recent reshuffle is harming the country” he said.
“This is not an academic exercise”. This was a “serious weakness and we shall attend to it within renewed vigour”, he added.
Going forward, it may rather actually see a sideways movement (and of course, taking the Namibia dollar with it) and hover between 13 and 14,50 to the USA dollar, said Simonis Storm Securities (SSS) director of research and securities Purvance Heuer yesterday in a brief interview with The Namibian.
Zuma himself, in his first public comments since he fired the internationally respected Gordhan, said that fiscal policies would be unchanged and that people should remain calm. “We no longer believe in his leadership abilities and we shall be communicating that decision to our ally, the ANC”, it said. However they said that they would look to alternatives to engage should this request not be met.
We now anticipate that Moody’s will also downgrade South Africa’s credit rating by one notch to Baa3 this week, and retain their negative outlook. Last week it announced it planned to explore legal avenues that could force Zuma to reinstate Gordhan as Finance Minister. “If the downgrade results in us being a country with no money, then we will be left with no option other than to take our mineral resources and ensure that they serve our country”, said Youth League official Sifiso Mtsweni.
The National Assembly is on recess until early May.
“People must not underestimate what has happened here today”.
“This sovereign downgrade will lead to a steep erosion of already poor levels of investor confidence”, Cas Coovadia, head of the banking industry lobby group said. “That is not something you can sneer at”. South Africans must brace themselves for tough times. He said the opposition parties’ various efforts are meant to galvanise society.
“But, this horror story was brought here by none other than Jacob Zuma”. “We are appealing to them to work for us only for those two hours”. The best and the brightest talent will leave the country to pursue their goals elsewhere.
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However the country’s deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called Mr Gordhan’s sacking “totally, totally unacceptable” and the Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), also opposed it.
