On March 28, 2012, we revised the outlook on the Republic of South Africa to negative and affirmed our 'BBB+/A-2' foreign currency and 'A/A-1' local currency ratings on South Africa. In accordance with our criteria for government-related entities, we are revising the outlook on South African power utility ESKOM Holding SOC Ltd. (ESKOM) and affirming our 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. The 'b' stand-alone credit profile on ESKOM remains unchanged despite our forecast of a delay in the recovery in the company's credit metrics due to the recent announcement of a lower tariff increase than we had previously expected for 2012-2013. The negative outlook reflects that on South Africa, and our view that a downgrade of the
