JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said on Thursday that patronage and corruption were undermining efforts to build a credible government, as Africa’s most industrialised country faces the prospect of potential ratings downgrades.
Jonas’ remarks said in a speech at a labour congress also came the day after the Auditor-General said irregular expenditure by South African government departments swelled 80 percent to 43.4 billion rand ($3 billion) in the 2015-16 financial year.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Writing by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia)
