A study commissioned by South Africa’s ruling ANC has rejected calls for mine nationalisation and come out in favour of higher taxes and royalties, the Business Day newspaper reported on Thursday.
The report is expected to be adopted as policy by the African National Congress and will be raised this weekend at a meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information.
The report warns against “asset grabs” by the state because such a policy would be unconstitutional and because the government could also not afford to buy mining stakes, the newspaper said.
But the government will also recommend higher royalties and taxes, as well as policies to encourage the processing of raw minerals to add value, the paper said.
Talk of nationalising mines and banks by radical elements in the ANC has unnerved investors.
The policy drive for mine nationalisation lost political momentum after an ANC disciplinary committee found its biggest advocate, ANC youth league leader Julius Malema, guilty of sowing discord in the party.
The committee handed down a five-year suspension which Malema has appealed.
The ANC study on mine nationalisation was first submitted to the party leadership last year but had been sent back for redrafting to improve its presentation.
