RON DERBY: Lonmin, a lesson in nationalisation
For those who'd like the country to adopt nationalisation as a policy, I propose they use Lonmin as a case study, writes Derby
For emotive reasons above all else, the case of Lonmin is something we should all pay very close attention to. I've often said this, but on better reflection, maybe what I should be saying is that as a nation, we are fully invested in this story. For those who'd like the country to adopt nationalisation as a policy and who will pitch their ideas at the ANC's policy conference at the end of next month, I propose they use Lonmin as a case study. It's a useful example in that it isn't a distant and rather depressing story of the violent implosion of the Venezuelan experiment, or the decades-old Zambian bête noire, which saw its once-thriving mining industry nationalised and then promptly collapse. It's our very own home-grown economic tragedy.With a 30% stake in the mining company, the Public Investment Corporation is its biggest shareholder, on behalf of government pensioners. You see where I'm going with this. While not having full ownership, the state controls the fate of one of the...
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