BLOEMFONTEIN – South Africa will not be “reckless” when it comes to a decision on implementing new mining taxes and will give ample time for consultation, Finance deputy minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Monday on the sidelines of an African National Congress (ANC) political meeting.
Report by Reuters
The ruling ANC is meeting this week to elect its leaders for the next five years and make decisions on broad economic policy, including on whether to push for new taxes on mining firms.
A policy document released earlier this year recommended new windfall taxes on mining companies to help fund social welfare programmes in Africa’s biggest economy.
However, Nene said Treasury would make sure that any debate about new taxes on the mining sector, which accounts for more than 6% of GDP, would be measured and inclusive. “This is one area that we have handled with care all along,” he told a business forum on the sidelines of the main ANC meeting in the central city of Bloemfontein.
Cynthia Carroll, the outgoing chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, labelled the proposed new taxes last month as “unnecessary and unwise”.
