Fedusa to join march
THE FEDERATION of Unions of SA (Fedusa) will join the nationwide mass protest marches tomorrow to demand the resignation of President Jacob Zuma after his controversial cabinet reshuffle that saw former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas axed.
On Monday credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) decided to bring its assessment of South Africa forward by six months and downgraded our sovereign rating to junk status or sub-investment grade.
This was followed by another rating action later in the day which saw Moody’s put South Africa on a downgrading review until tomorrow when it is expected to announce a decision similar to the one that has been taken by S&P. A third credit rating agency, Fitch, is widely expected to follow suit shortly afterwards.
A junk status or sub-investment grade sovereign rating makes the cost of borrowing money prohibitively high. In addition, many Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) countries prohibit their financial institutions from buying bonds from jurisdictions that have been slapped with junk status.
The union federation’s high-level management committee, which took the decision to march for South Africa tomorrow, also mandated Fedusa to participate in the follow-up protest marches every Friday thereafter leading up to the tabling of a vote of no confidence against Zuma in Parliament.
“Fedusa will support and participate in the mass peaceful protest action march tomorrow which will include working with local communities, attending prayer meetings and lunchtime picketing.
“Fedusa will not support any national shutdown, acts of criminality or vandalism, nor that children should not go school or their parents stay away from work,” said Fedusa general secretary Dennis George.
“Fedusa… appeals to all its members to take precautions and to note that there won’t be any blanket protection for members who decide to participate in the marches on their own volition.
“We appeal to all our members to make arrangements with their employers beforehand so they can protect themselves against any adverse action that could be taken against them.” Frank Nxumalo Fedusa