20100924
reuters

DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC will investigate ways for the state to take greater control of the country's mining industry, a senior party official said on Friday.

South African Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, a member of the African National Congress' decision-making national Executive Committee (NEC), told reporters that a decision on increased control of mines could be taken in 2012.

"We therefore mandated the NEC to ensure work be done including research and for a decision to be taken in 2012," Manuel said during a briefing by the ANC's economic transformation committee at the party's National General Council, one of its most important political meetings in years.

Delegates at the policy meeting said the ANC had not heeded calls from its left-leaning allies to sharply devalue the rand currency or allow the state to try taking over mines in the world's largest producer of platinum and fourth largest of gold.

Manuel said recent comments from the ANC about the strength of the rand had had little impact and pegging the rand to the dollar -- as recommended by the powerful COSATU labour federation -- would be financial suicide.

"To us, that you peg against a volatile currency like the dollar is committing financial suicide," said Manuel, the country's former finance minister.

The rand has gained almost 26 percent since the start of 2009, unsettling policymakers and prompting unions to call for a weaker currency. A stronger rand is a negative for exporters, as it eats into earnings made overseas.

It seems unlikely the party will adopt a call from the largest labour federation COSATU, its governing ally, to tax short-term capital inflows to stem the currency's strength.

The ANC, which has about two-thirds of the seats in parliament, has decided to speed up the introduction of a national health insurance scheme, raising concerns it may have to raise taxes to fund the expensive plan.

It also pushed for establishing a media tribunal to crack down on reporting it sees as unscrupulous. The idea has been widely criticised as a plan to muzzle the press and prevent investigative reports that expose corruption.