Subject: Mine nationalisation wrong, dangerous question to ask - Shabangu
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
Published 02 Aug 2011
Article by: Martin Creamer
Asking whether South Africa should nationalise its mining industry was the wrong, dangerous question to ask in searching for the answer to South Africa?s ?evil triplets? of poverty, inequality and unemployment, said Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu.
Shabangu, who addressed a mine-nationalisation forum organised by The New Age daily newspaper in Johannesburg, became the third South African Cabinet Minister in two days to debunk the mine nationalisation debate.
She spoke after Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba branded the mine-nationalisation demands of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) as ?reckless? and ?cheap? in a talk to the American Chamber of Commerce, and Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies told the Swiss-South Africa Chamber of Commerce that expropriation without compensation was not only unconstitutional, but also a ?remote? possibiity, in that it would violate ?tons of investment protection agreements? that South Africa had with a number of countries around the world.
Shabangu did her best to erase the words "mine nationalisation" and demanded that emphasis be placed on how South Africans could contribute to the twin objectives of industrialisation and job creation.
She quoted the contention of authors Peter Drucker and Tim Hurson that asking the wrong question - like whether or not there should be mine nationalisation - was ?truly dangerous?.
The Minister could not name a single country that had nationalised successfully and believed the correct question to ask was how South Africa could make best use of its vast mineral wealth to eliminate poverty, inequality and unemployment ? ?the evil triplets?.
She charged that private-sector miners were not doing ?enough? to develop near-mine communities and condemned the wide pay gap between management and worker, which prompted forum facilitator and radio personality Bruce Whitfield to jibe that State-employed nurses and teachers might say the very same thing about the gap between their pay and that of Cabinet Ministers, like Shabangu herself.
Whitfield said that private-sector miners, who were already paying taxes, royalties and assisting near-mine communities, wanted to know what the Minister regarded as being ?enough?, when it came to near-mine community support.
Shabangu replied that miners should ensure that they offered appropriate bursaries and scholarships and skilled up communities in mining areas.
She told journalists who gathered around her after the presentation that the Cabinet had decided that public hearings must take place prior to the promulgation of reforms to the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA); that the appointment of a new director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources was imminent; that the MPRDA was being amended in order to prevent a second Aurora debacle from taking place; and that the State mining company, the African Exploration Mining & Finance Corporation, was producing coal for supply to State electricity utility Eskom.
Earlier, she had lashed out at the nationalisation debate as being ?a fruitless exercise? and derided those who believed that the absence of mine nationalisation was the cause of South Africa?s ?triplet? scourge.
She said that ideological positions would not help South Africa to address the material conditions of ?the people living under the spell of these evil triplets?.
She expressed incredulity at those who believed that governing meant the pursuit of purist ideological objectives.
?If there is one thing we members of the oldest liberation movement on the continent can pride ourselves on, is that we dropped some of these ideological extremes long before it became fashionable to do so.?
She had accepted the invitation to address the forum in order to debunk negative notions and to respond to the call for mine-nationalisation alternatives.
The National Planning Commission?s recent diagnostic report had shown why youth were impatient for economic emancipation.
The report had highlighted that only 41% of "economically active" South Africans were employed, compared with more than 60% in countries such as Malaysia and Brazil, or 70% to 80% in China, Colombia or Thailand.
These staggering figures revealed that two-thirds of South Africa?s unemployed were below the age of 35.
The correct questions to be asked to solve youth unemployment were how the State's fiscal capacity could be increased while simultaneously improving working conditions; how industrialisation and more jobs could be achieved; and how mineral beneficiation could be made a South African success story.
Instead, the country was embroiled in the wrong debate that would only culminate in Mangaung at the end of next year.
?I am aware that the investors, and equally members and supporters of the ANC who want to see investments and jobs in the mining industry, will be disappointed because they want clarity and certainty,? she said.
In the meantime, investors could take comfort in the current government policy of non-nationalisation being clear.
?Government is clear on the policies of mining, as you know South Africa has a mixed economy,? she added.
Despite the failings, the industry?s creation of the Mining Industry Growth and Development Task Team was a ?shining example? of cooperation that could be achieved between government, business and labour.
She urged South Africans to resist the temptation of taking ideological positions on bread and butter issues and reiterated that ?the downtrodden? required South African leadership to assist them to improve the quality of their lives.
?They have not accepted our leadership so that we can sit here to debate whether or not to nationalise the mines. This debate is not taking our people anywhere,? she said.
Shabangu concluded by expressing confidence that government, business and labour would continue to reach consensus on thorny issues around which there was often initial disagreement.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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