The Congress of South African Trade Unions supports the call of the ANC Youth League for the ANC government to start considering nationalisation of mines in line with the Freedom Charter.
This is totally in line with the resolution of the COSATU 9th National Congress in 2006 which called for "more equitable ownership, especially collective ownership through the state, worker control and co-ops, including through nationalisation of mining and other commanding heights of the economy as provided in the Freedom Charter".
The Freedom Charter was affirmed by ANC 52ND National Conference as the strategic goal of the ANC, and that document is categorical in affirming that "the Mineral Wealth beneath the soil, monopoly industries and banks should be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole". The government does therefore have a conference mandate for this policy.
The ANC YL makes the valid point that the nationalisation of the mines is particularly relevant in the light of the global financial crisis and the massive job losses in the mining sector.
COSATU endorses the Youth League's view the "the people of South Africa should share and benefit from South Africa's mineral wealth. It can never be correct that our communities, particularly next to mines, live in absolute poverty whilst the big mining corporations make big profits".
Statement issued by COSATU, July 3 2009
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