South Africa "dare not deviate" from fiscal consolidation and its commitment to spending ceilings, warned former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni. The country also needed to reinforce central bank independence, respect independent institutions, demonstrate commitment to growing the economy and address lack of policy coherence to avoid further credit downratings, he said at a Witwatersrand University graduation ceremony yesterday."In fact, the policy conflicts in our government need to be sorted out. Better co-ordination and leadership is required," the honorary Wits professor said.Fitch and Standard & Poor's now rate South Africa's sovereign credit ratings at BBB-, just one level above junk status, or subinvestment grade.Mboweni said South Africa could not afford being downgraded to junk because it would make the country less attractive to investors and raise the cost of borrowing...