ANC in favor of returning mineral rights to the state

The new government of South Africa wants mineral rights inside the country to come under state ownership.

British news magazine The Economist says the African National Congress (ANC) of newly elected President Nelson Mandela is talking of reversing the current policy that gives the owner of land the rights to the minerals buried within.

The country’s large mining houses have been able to tie up large tracts of land without making any work commitments which, argues the ANC, hinders new exploration companies.

Mineral-rich South Africa is the largest gold producer in the world, accounting (in 1993) for just under 33% of global production. Mining accounts for 60% of South Africa’s foreign exchange earnings, about half of which comes from gold.

Meanwhile, Mandela said in an interview with the Sunday Times that the priority of his government is to double economic growth and that this will make it necessary to “tighten our belts.”

Summing up his first 100 days as president of South Africa, Mandela stressed that economic problems were the most important challenge to the government, Agence France Presse reports.

Among the prime issues he cited were a rate of growth forecast at less than 3% for this year, a high level of taxation on South African products (which makes them less competitive in the world market), an “enormous public debt,” continued government borrowing and the slow pace of local investments.