South Africa may be over the worst of its economic downturn with potential growth of over one percent next year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday, noting President Jacob Zuma had expressed confidence in him.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the FT Africa Summit, Gordhan also said the country, which is teetering on the lowest investment grade ratings rung, hoped to avoid a downgrade to junk."We predict over one percent next year," Gordhan said.He declined to comment on this year's growth expectations, saying he would talk about this at the end of October.He earlier told the summit: "We are going through a difficult economic patch at the moment… but we may well have bottomed out."Recent data seems to bear out that optimism, with growth in the April-June period at 3.3 percent, the highest in six quarters. The economy shrank 1.2 percent in the three months to March.The economy and currency are also under pressure from reported friction between Zuma and Gordhan, who...
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