S.Africa says no nationalisation of mine assets
Reuters Company News
S.Africa says no nationalisation of mine assets
Friday October 4, 10:06 am ET
By Sue Thomas
(Adds share paragraph 6-7, fund manager 8)
PRETORIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday the government had no plans to nationalise the
country's mine assets, and a mining boss said a final draft industry charter was "a satisfactory compromise".
"On the nationalisation of mines, this is not part of
the process. No nationalisation is visualised,"
Mbeki told a news briefing after he received a copy
of the final draft charter from industry stakeholders
who negotiated the document.
The charter, stipulated in the Minerals Bill, will set
targets and deadlines to increase black
participation in the white-dominated industry.
Anglo American Platinum (AMSJ.J) Chief Executive
Barry Davison, who played a crucial role in the
negotiations, said: "It is a satisfactory compromise
between government's political imperatives and the
commercial realities of the industry."
He gave no specifics of the charter, but said an
earlier "fixation" on ownership targets "had been
considerably broadened. They are not focused just
on ownership, but on skills development,
procurement and community upliftment."
The news helped lift mining stocks. Anglo climbed
to a day high of 143.30 rand in response to the
news, before slipping slightly to 141.15 rand, a gain
of 1.8 percent.
Shares in the world's biggest platinum group
Angloplat rallied briefly after the news before settling back to 368 rand by 1357 GMT, up 0.55 percent.
A fund manager said the news was "pretty much as expected", adding that Angloplat's recent outperformance of number two
miner Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J) was partly a reflection of the growing expectation that the final draft would be less onerous than
the original.
FIRST DRAFT SCARES
A first draft leaked in July scared investors with suggestions that 30 percent of mining assets and 51 percent of all new projects
be sold to black businesses within 10 years. Mining stocks were hardest hit, with Anglo losing almost a fifth of its value.
"The ANC has effectively won the privatisation fight with its left-wing critics," analyst Dawie Roodt, economist at PLJ Financial
Services, said of the final draft.
Details of the charter were not released on Friday, but will be brought before the Chamber of Mines -- which represent mining
houses -- and the state cabinet next Wednesday, after which they will be released to the public.
The new charter would include some form of "scorecard" to monitor the industry's progress in increasing black participation, Mbeki
said.
"We must have some form of scorecard, so that we are able to measure progress," Mbeki said. The charter has various
categories in which industry would need to improve their score. These included human resource development, workers' living
conditions, the deracialisation of the industry, ownership and upping the level of value added in the sector.
"The mining charter places us in a strong position to grow and expand in a situation of co-operative agreement," Mbeki said. |
