The nationalisation debate which has sparked a storm of controversy over the past few years is now firmly back in the spotlight after the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Thursday revealed that its tripartite alliance partner – the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – was now researching how to execute the policy.
Cosatu economist Chris Malekane told a South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry briefing in Johannesburg that the ANC was researching models of implementation, despite government’s denials that it would implement the policy.
Malekane said the model of nationalisation would also not be restricted to the mining sector, but would apply to agriculture, general production and banks.
ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema on Thursday said South Africans had the right to benefit from the country’s wealth and not just whites who had exploited the apartheid race laws for their own benefit.
Addressing students in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town, he pointed out that 10% of the population was made up of whites yet they controlled most of the wealth.
Malema’s argument was boosted by new figures this week that showed that whites still occupy 73.1% of top management positions.
“It is a national disgrace that we have done so little after 17 years of democracy to reverse the racial imbalances we inherited from the days of apartheid,” said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven, while reacting to the Commission of Employment Equity’s 11th annual report, which found whites still occupy 73.1% of top management positions in the country.
