A task force set up by South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) party to look at nationalising the country's mining industry is scheduled to report its findings by the end of 2012, according to an adviser to mines minister Susan Shabangu.
Shabangu this month admitted debate inside the ANC about possible nationalisation of mines was hurting investment and job creation, but stopped short of dismissing the idea.
“We are mindful of the effects of the current nationalisation debate on our country as an investment destination,” the adviser, Sandile Nogxina said in a speech scheduled for delivery on behalf of Shabangu later on Wednesday at a mining conference in Australia.
“We are nevertheless urging you to come to speed with the fact that the ruling party has appointed a task team to look at this matter and make recommendations to the ruling party's Policy Conference; and in turn this body will make a recommendation to the National Conference that will take place at the end of next year,” Nogxina said.
South African police on Tuesday used stun grenades and water cannon to disperse thousands of supporters of outspoken ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema who was facing a party disciplinary hearing
Malema, who has no direct policy-making power but is one of the ANC's most popular politicians, has won admiration among millions of poor South Africans and alarmed investors with his calls to nationalise the mines.
Some in South Africa fear nationalisation could bankrupt the country and destroy its credibility among investors. But the idea resonates with the country's poor black majority who see it as a way to spread the wealth from a sector that grew powerful along with white-minority apartheid rule. - Reuters