ANC's report 'strongly against nationalisation'The ANC's draft...

ANC's report 'strongly against nationalisation'

The ANC's draft mine nationalisation research group report comes out strongly against the idea of nationalisation.

This is according to Peter Attard Montalto who says ANC insiders he has spoken to have led him to believe that the report was so anti-nationalisation that it had to be "softened".

This followed the ANC's announcement on Monday that the document needed to be re-drafted.

"Remember this has long been our view of the line the ANC would take and would in the very long run lead us to the same place with the same cost as nationalisation.

"Given the ANC will be basing its future mining policy on this document and requiring delegates to vote on such a policy based on this document as evidence at next year's elective conference clearly there was need to see that it was right at this point."

Attard Montalto said the report had already been delayed numerous times.

"It was meant to originally come out earlier this year - and now looks set to fall into late Q1 2012 at the earliest.

"Publication of the report was set to have lifted the shroud of uncertainty hampering foreign direct investment and mine development in the country (now in place for two to three years).

This uncertainty would now continue until the report was published, he added.

"The ANC has said the report was delayed because it needed to be rewritten in better language that its ordinary members could understand and also needed to include more detail on case studies of what happened in other countries."

Attard Montalto said the bottom line was that there was no change of view on the eventual income.

"The delay is bad as this is not lifting uncertainty, but it is not a signal that nationalisation is more likely."

Yesterday, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told a media briefing that a report on the nationalisation of mines was presented at the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend.

It was, however, sent back to its authors to be re-written.

The ANC has appointed a team of economists to investigate the success and failure of the nationalisation of mines in 12 countries - Chile, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Zambia, Brazil, Venezuela, Namibia, Botswana, Malaysia, China and Australia.

- JANICE ROBERTS, Business Live ZA

29/11/2011

http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/2011/11/29/anc-s-report-strongly-against-nationalisation