Memorandum to Chamber of Mines-27 October 2011
We, the youth of South Africa, the unemployed, marginalised, homeless, the economically downtrodden, and all of us who wish to have access to quality free education, housing, electricity, and sustainable livelihoods demand urgent economic freedom in our lifetime. Economic freedom in our lifetime means total achievement of Freedom Charter objectives, particularly on the transfer of wealth to the ownership of the people as a whole.
The Chamber of Mines is a recipient of Economic Freedom Mass Action because of its role in the history of racialised economic development of South Africa. This includes, but not limited to development of an exclusively white mining capital with massive influence and contribution to legislation that subjugated, excluded, oppressed and super-exploited blacks and Africans in the entire Mining value.
We come here as Economic Freedom Fighters carrying the burden of the millions of the economically excluded, subjugated, oppressed, exploited and depressed South Africans in the Economic Freedom Mass Action under the leadership of the ANC Youth League to make the following demands:
To the Chamber of Mines we demand the following:
1. Nationalisation of South Africa's Mines. The State should own and control a minimum of 60% of South Africa's Mines.
2. Local beneficiation and industrialisation of a minimum of 60% of the minerals extracted from beneath South Africa's soil. The beneficiation should happen in the communities where Mining happens.
3. Provision of education, skills and expertise to South African youth in order to capacitate them to play a meaningful role in the entire mining value-chain.
4. Betterment of working conditions in all Mines to prevent avoidable fatalities and diseases.
5. Better salaries and wages for all Mineworkers, and provision of full employment for workers currently employed as contract workers.
6. An end to import-parity pricing on the South Africa minerals to boast the manufacturing, industrialisation and infrastructure development.
Active involvement of Mining corporations in the development of Mining communities, particularly on the construction and maintenance of roads, health facilities, schools, technical training colleges, and other public infrastructure.
8. Local manufacturing of supplies and other necessities required for mining, including beneficiation and industrialisation.
9. Development of a concrete social and labour development model, which will ensure that communities around the Mines are developed out of the proceeds of Mining,
10. Re-alignment of South Africa's Industrial Policy and action plan around to consider the reality that the State will be in control and ownership of Mines and mineral resources, so as to guide a concrete plan on minerals' beneficiation and industrialisation.
11. Amendment of Section 25 of South Africa's Constitution to empower the State to expropriate in the public interest with or without compensation.
12. Cessation of threats of disinvestment by Mining Capital.
13. Compensation of Mining communities that continue to suffer diseases and infections as a result of Mining and minerals' extraction, particularly the asbestos communities.
We expect urgent action plans and programmes on these demands, on the view that non concession to these demands will lead to social instability due to continued economic exclusion of the black majority and Africans in particular. We will never allow Mining business to continue to extract and massively benefit from South Africa's minerals whilst our communities are left with diseases, deeper poverty and degradation of infrastructure, rivers and environment.
These demands are genuine and should be acceded to with immediate effect, because we cannot afford to wait any longer.
Signed by the Chamber of Mines______________________________________________
Signed by the ANC Youth League______________________________________________
Issued by the ANC Youth League, October 27 2011
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