Statement of the ANCYL on remarks by SG Cde Gwede Mantashe
The African National Congress Youth League welcomes the remarks made by the Secretary-General of the African National Congress at the COSATU National Congress this afternoon. Comrade Gwede Mantashe has made an unambigous call to workers to support the programme of the ANC for strategic nationalisation.
Finally, the ANC has acknowledged what the ANCYL has consistently said that the National Policy Conference resolved on strategic nationalisation of mines and other strategic sectors of the economy.
As dictated by the Policy Conference and amplified by the Secretary-General today, the ANC Youth League has already embarked on a process to identify the mineral wealth to be nationalised. These should be based on the economic importance of the mineral or sector concerned as well as the risk associated with the supply thereof to safeguard our economic and political sovereignty.
To this end, we shall be proposing the nationalisation of strategic companies such as SASOL, Kumba Iron-Ore and Acelor-Mittal. This should be accompanied by the nationalisation of the following minerals: iron, coal, platinum group minerals, vanadium, gold, manganese and zinc.
The ANC Youth League calls on all workers to intensify the struggle for the redistribution of the economy of this country and in so doing emulate the courage and bravery displayed by workers in the mining industry.
Organised labour must never again be caught on the sidelines of history, wondering what happened but instead be at the forefront of driving the realisation of an economy built on the demands and aspiration of the Freedom Charter, bringing closer the attainment of Economic Freedom in our Lifetime. We congratulate COSATU on a successful Congress and look forward to working with the revolutionary and transformative Trade Union movement for real economic freedom and power.
Statement issued by the ANC Youth League, September 20 2012
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