African National Congress Youth League sought to re-assure Anglo American on Monday that it would not be the only mining company shares would be grabbed from.
“The minimum of 60% of all privately-owned mining companies will be taken by the state, not the Youth League, and will be taken from all privately-owned mining corporations, not only from Anglo American as portrayed in the media,” ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said in a statement.
This, after Malema reportedly said at a dinner in Nelspruit on Friday that his organisation wanted 60% of Anglo American.
“What Anglo does with the other 40% is their business,” Malema said according to a Sunday report in the City Press.
“If we don’t do it [nationalisation], we’ll always stay poor. The Oppenheimers don’t need to worry, because we only want 60 percent of Anglo American’s money,” he said.
Shivambu lashed back on Monday morning, however, blaming “the mediocrity that defines South Africa’s print media”.
Documents publicly available
He said the various discussion documents and policy positions of the ANCYL on the nationalisation of mines were publicly available.
These documents showed that not only Anglo American would be targeted.
“In the proposed model for nationalisation of mines, the ANC Youth League said … [it] should entail that after its establishment, the state-owned mining company should take a minimum of 60% of the existing privately-owned mining corporations.”
Shivambu promised that the ANCYL would educate the media and society on its proposals.
“The ANC Youth League will, with patience, explain and educate the whole of society and the media on the models of nationalisation of mines and how it is going to benefit majority of the people of South Africa.”
The matter will come up for discussion at the next ANC national conference in 2012. — Sapa