International credit rating agencies have shown themselves not to be overly concerned by South African’s “robust” politics, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.

“In the end the political noise that they observe is not their main consideration,” Ramaphosa told the National Assembly while answering questions from opposition parties.

Standard & Poor last week kept South Africa sovereign rating at BBB-, one notch above sub-investment status.

Late last month, Fitch also maintained South Africa’s rating at BBB- but dropped the outlook from stable to negative.

It warned that political risks to standards of governance and policy-making had increased‚ and would remain high for another year, until the ruling party’s electoral conference next December, with a negative impact on macroeconomic performance.