ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has called on South Africa's mines to be nationalised, according to an article in the Sowetan on Thursday.

"At the moment, when the imperialist forces are accepting the failures of capitalism, we should ask whether the time has not arrived for the government to make sure that the state owns the mines and other means of production as called for in the Freedom Charter," Malema said at the launch of the youth league's political school in Krugersdorp.

Malema said President Jacob Zuma should fast-track the implementation of the Freedom Charter of 1955 which stated that "the mineral wealth beneath the soil, monopoly industry and banks should be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole".

According to the Sowetan, he also said he understood that not all South Africans would welcome the implementation of some of the Charter's aspirations.

Meanwhile, Malema's suggestion that mines be nationalised is not ANC policy, the party said on Thursday.

"It is not ANC policy to nationalise mines but the ANC does provide for people to question if they need to do so," African National Congress spokesperson Jessie Duarte told Sapa.

Duarte said, having read his comments at the event, "He didn't say he is going to nationalise... He thinks in the current climate it might be an idea to discuss the idea."

Duarte said Malema was only putting forward a question with his comments.

"It doesn't mean that the question will alter ANC economic policy," Duarte said.

"The wonderful thing about the country, unlike the media, is that we do have freedom of speech."

Read more on Julius Malema...

Sapa

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook