JOHANNESBURG Feb 2 (Reuters) – 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.
(Writing by Ed Stoddard; editing by David Dolan)
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