Credit ratings per South African president – 1994 to 2016 from Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe to Zuma

South Africa recently dodged junk status when ratings agency S&P Global held the country’s credit rating at BBB-.

Ratings agency Fitch also recently affirmed SA’s investment grade, keeping its outlook stable – but warned that political and growth concerns should be addressed.

Analysts and economists expected this, but said South Africa needs to do a lot of work to avoid a ratings cut at the end of 2016.

According to S&P, low GDP is putting the country’s economy at risk – which is putting strain on businesses and the government.

Rising political tensions were also sighted as accentuating vulnerabilities in the country’s profile.

A cut to below investment grade would push up South Africa’s borrowing costs, making it harder to plug a budget deficit projected at 3.2% of GDP in the 2016/17 financial year, reported BusinessTech.

Credit ratings per South African president

The graphic below shows how South Africa’s credit ratings have changed under the country’s political leaders since 1994.

Fitch, S&P, and Moody’s ratings were used, measured over the terms of South Africa’s presidents – from Nelson Mandela, Thobo Mbeki, Kgelema Motlanthe to Jacob Zuma.

Source: mybroadband