Deputy Speaker, first of all, I must indicate that the ANC is the legitimate custodian of the legitimate aspirations of the people of South Africa. [Interjections.] The ANC does not represent narrow, white sectional interests, who want to cling to the status quo of an untransformed economy in South Africa.
It is our observation that the differences during the deliberations were very revealing about the opposition. Firstly, there is the DA's obsession with auctioning the mineral resources of this country to the highest bidder. The DA is also blindly loyal to the indiscriminate exploitation of any and all mineral resources for the exclusive benefit of foreign companies. [Interjections.]
This debate on the amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Bill could not have come at a better time. As we celebrate 20 years of freedom, our country is abuzz with passionate debates and discussions on the need for meaningful economic transformation. A point that has to be emphasised is that, 20 years after the advent of our political freedom, the need to radically change the economy for the development and empowerment of the historically disadvantaged people is looming large in the current political and economic climate. Old structures of the economic productive system have to be changed in terms of ownership, social participation, management, employment, skills and in terms of geography, in ways that integrate rural areas into the modern productive system.
We must develop and expand the productive industrial base in ways that create jobs, eliminate poverty, reduce inequality and eradicate underdevelopment. An attempt has been made from the opposition benches to detract us from discussing a matter of national importance, because they do not have an agenda for economic transformation. [Interjections.] The local productive system has to be developed through skills and cutting-edge technologies that produce high quality value-added products so as to be competitive in international markets. We have to break the historical production structures that continue to reduce our country to a mere supplier of raw materials.
To this end, we are happy with work in progress by the Economics Cluster in pursuit of the aspirations of the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan, Ipap, policies. Because of the industrial strength of developing countries, the global setting today, therefore, presents more opportunities than in the past, for the local radical economic action to succeed. The struggles on the economic front have already taken centre stage in the current political climate and should lead to a radical economic transformation so that our democratisation is linked to the social progress of all our people, not just owners and managers of capital.
The mineral wealth of a country is a national heritage that must be utilised to the benefit of its citizens. This assertion is the core tenet of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act 28 of 2002, consistent with international conventions that affirm its relevance, such as the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1803 (XVII) of 1962, which affirms that -
... the rights of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources must be exercised in the interest of their national development and of the well-being of the people of the state concerned.
Even though South Africa is blessed with some of the largest reserves of minerals in the world, this abundance is ultimately finite and must be the basis on which a more diversified, industrialised and, ultimately, sustainable economy must be developed for the benefit of its citizens. The mineral beneficiation proposition will create a domestic market for local miners and does not require them to subsidise the manufacturing industries. It will also ensure that security of supply is guaranteed for local manufacturers or beneficiates and optimise use of the current installed infrastructure for the movement of bulk commodities. These interventions are intended to optimise linkages between the mining sector and the manufacturing sector.
Accordingly, sustainable mineral beneficiation value proposition is necessary because minerals are ultimately finite, and with their depletion will come a wave of foreclosures and the attendant cessation of economic activities. Export revenue realised from the sale of primary commodities is also more than offset by the import of high-value manufactured goods, thus placing negative pressure on the country's balance of payments.
There is no alternative to value addition in industrialisation of the mining sector, because it will expand and develop the economic output, in terms of producing high-end, value-added goods, in terms of revenues that will increase many fold, and in terms of large-scale employment that will result from expanded production.
The amendments to section 26 are intended to put in place key interventions that are intended to strengthen the linkages between mining and manufacturing, as per the ANC manifesto of 2014 wherein strategic minerals will be identified for policy interventions in the manufacturing, energy, agriculture and infrastructure sectors. To give effect to these policy interventions, the Amendment Bill makes provision for the following. The designation of minerals will ensure the implementation of key programmes of government aimed at ameliorating the developmental challenges of unemployment, inequality and poverty. Security of supply will be critical to strengthen the linkages between mining and manufacturing. Section 26(2)(b) makes provision for security of supply by requiring producers of designated minerals to set aside a portion of their production of designated minerals for local beneficiation.
Underlying these interventions will be the principle that mining companies will not be compelled to beneficiate minerals. However, they are expected, in terms of the proposed section 26, to avail a portion of their production of designated minerals for local beneficiation. We have to stress a point about the role of the state - that the role of the state is a prerequisite for our national development to succeed. We think it is not only a false obsession with neoliberal schemes for some in the House to always counteract the role of the state against private sector investment, but a downright mischief.
At its 53rd national conference, the ANC resolved that the state must capture an equitable share of mineral resource rents through the tax system and deploy them in the interests of long-term economic growth, development and transformation. We believe government is on the right track with regard to this.
The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill makes provision, through the designated organs of state ... Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The ANC supports the Bill. [Applause.] [Time expired.]