Nationalise SA's mineral wealth, not its mines

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Mongezi Mtati

Nationalise SA's mineral wealth, not its mines - NUM

Madoda Sambatha, a representative from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), has called for the mineral wealth of the country to be nationalised, not the mines, Mineweb reports.

"We want the mineral wealth, not the mines," He said, adding that nationalisation is nothing more than nationalising debt. If mines were nationalised, he warned, then the state would be burdened with mine-related liabilities - both environmental and social.

"We have no interest in owning mines as a union," Sambatha said. "[I]n actual fact we would advise our government not to have an interest to own mines but to have an interest to own mineral wealth to determine the price upon which the wealth is exploited by whoever applies for a mining licence". According to Mineweb, Sambatha called for the proceeds from a state owned mining company to be used to fund the National Health Insurance scheme and a free education process.

Read the full article on www.mineweb.com.