CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) - South African Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has reiterated that the nationalisation of the country's mining sector was not a government policy and would not be adopted as such in the foreseeable future.

Addressing a press briefing at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town on Tuesday, Shabangu declared that, "in my lifetime, there will be no nationalisation of the mines".

Shabangu's rejection of nationalisation of the mines came on the back of comments by African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema, who has been pushing for mines to be put in the State's hands.

The ANCYL envisages a South Africa where the State owns 60% of all mines.

On Monday, Malema said that the ANCYL had drafted proposals to be presented to the ruling ANC later this year.

Commenting on the ANCYL's campaign, Shabangu noted that the subject of the nationalisation of the mines was an "open debate, which did not mean any harm".
Shabangu continued that government would not stop young people engaging in an "intellectual exercise" or flexing their debating skills on the subject.

However, what was important was government policy and Shabangu reiterated that the ruling party had not, and would not, adopt nationalisation as a policy.

The nationalisation of the mining sector was not a strategic imperative for the ANC, she added.

But, the ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said that Shabangu was misleading investors by making "false assurances" at the mining conference in Cape Town.

"We call on the Minister of Minerals to stop misleading investors, because these investors should also make input into the discussion document on the Nationalisation of Mines, which is going to be reality not in the distant future."

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