SA is facing a tough sell as it seeks to avoid a ratings downgrade, and collective efforts to counteract a possible downgrade could come to naught, former finance minister Trevor Manuel says. Manuel told a Times Media Group event on Thursday that ratings agencies were not novices when it came to decades of SA’s politics and were likely to have already made up their minds when they visit the country in the coming months.Manuel issued a stark warning that SA was failing to protect its constitutional democracy, from "flagrant" breaches. "On that basis, we can hope and try to persuade them [the ratings agencies] when they come, but in many respects, my sense [is that] the die is cast," Manuel said.A move away from the principles of constitutional democracy was evident in the failure by either the executive or Parliament seriously to reflect on the March 31 Constitutional Court judgment, which found they had violated their oaths of office in a judgment that affirmed the powers of the pu...
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