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By Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG Feb 9 (Reuters) – South African
President Jacob Zuma on Thursday promised to keep the country’s
powerful mining sector “globally competitive”, the latest
comment from a senior government official to knock down the
prospects of nationalising the mines.
In his annual State of the Nation address, Zuma also pledged
a 300 billion rand ($40 billion), seven-year investment plan for
state rail and ports firm Transnet to increase the shipping of
iron ore and coal, whose exports have been hampered by
logistical bottlenecks.
Unlike previous years, he gave no projections for the budget
deficit or growth in Africa’s largest economy.
Prior to the speech, editorials and comments on social media
sites had called for bold plans to cure chronic unemployment and
a broken education system, as well as act against growing
corruption.
However, the speech lacked any major policy initiatives.
This week the Zuma administration has worked to squash the
idea – pushed by radical elements in the ruling African National
Congress (ANC) – of mine nationalisation in the world’s largest
platinum producer, with two cabinet members telling a global
mining conference in Cape Town that it would not work.
A mining sector study submitted to the ANC leadership this
month rejected nationalisation as an “unmitigated disaster”. It
proposed a 50 percent tax on mining profits as a way to help the
poor better benefit from South Africa’s mineral riches.
Continued…
