Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday said pessimism about South Africa's political future ahead of the African National Congress' (ANC's) elective conference was misplaced.

Gordhan said his own hope for the ruling party's conference in Mangaung in December was that it would provide clarity on policy for those in government and outside observers.

"It is our wish and our hope that by the time we get to December 16, and more particularly December 20, we would have reached the point where all of the questions that might be of concern are resolved sufficiently... to provide certainty both for us as policy makers, but also for those who might be watching us."

He added: "There is no catastrophe that is going to hit our country at this point in time. There is no need in my view for the pessimism that some of us seem to be reflecting."

Gordhan was speaking to reporters before delivering his medium-term budget policy statement.

He suggested that he was irritated by questions from foreign observers about potential fall-out from the conference, where President Jacob Zuma could be challenged for the leadership of the ruling party.

"We have tried to explain to many around the world that we do have a robust political culture and robust political debate.

"It is a matter of fact that we have on some issues in this country a difference in philosophy, a difference in approach, a difference in emphasis and a belief that there might be different ways of solving a particular problem.

"At the same time, I think that there are too many people who are outside of this country who are making judgement calls on this country, who don't understand our history, who don't understand where we come from as a country and as a political culture, and who make negative pronouncements way out of line with the realities of political developments in this country."

Gordhan said that while South Africa faced considerable challenges, he believed the country had surmounted graver problems in the past.

"We will have difficulties, we will have challenges... We have survived worse than this in getting to where we are today."

The deadly wildcat strikes in the mining sector has seen foreign investors question South Africa's stability, and credit agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's downgrade the country's rating.

In his speech to Parliament, Gordhan said he believed they had done so "inappropriately, in our view".