Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has unleashed havoc on the already battered local mining industry by adopting a short-term smash-and-grab approach to a long-term industry that can only yield economic inclusivity if it grows. To grow, mining needs investment and to get investment, it has to be competitive. But what Zwane has done is rip growth prospects from under it by imposing a new Mining Charter that has investors running for the hills. The bright red danger lights that he has switched on are set to reach well beyond mining, right into the South African economy as a whole. By placing foreign suppliers of goods and services at a disadvantage, he has exposed South Africa to World Trade Organisation confrontation, where the country will be called upon to answer for trade transgressions on the procurement front and end up with reputational damage.