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Johannesburg - A study commissioned by the
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
ANC 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.
