The welcome announcement by Statistics South Africa that the domestic economy expanded by 3.3% in the second quarter was immediately tempered by warnings that the economy is still likely to move sideways for 2016 as a whole. In other words, the ratings agencies will be looking for signals elsewhere that the country is getting its fiscal-consolidation and social-consensus acts together to create a platform for future growth. It’s surely not what they are seeing when it comes to the current mess in the political environment.