Post date: Jan 12, 2013 7:56:12 PM
South African President Jacob Zuma attends celebrations to mark the 101st birthday of the African National Congress (ANC).
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (JANUARY 12, 2013) ( SABC) - Thousands of African National Congress (ANC) supporters chanted liberation songs on Saturday (January 12) at King's Park stadium in Durban for the party's 101st anniversary celebrations.
The ANC's creation 101 years ago launched decades of protest and armed struggle that finally brought about the end of apartheid white-minority rule in 1994, when elections ushered in a multi-racial democracy.South African President Jacob Zuma, who won a landslide re-election as head of the ANC in December, gave a public address in which he voiced his support for taxation of mineral resources.
"We call on ANC government to place the state mining company at the forefront of the state intervention in the mining sector. We have also resolved that the state must capture an equitable share of mineral resources rands through the tax system and deploy them in the interests of long term economic growth, development and infrastructure," Zuma said.
The ANC has called on mining firms to pay more to help it finance social welfare programmes, which could place another burden on companies hit by labour friction. The ruling party's most-discussed measure is a windfall "resource rent" tax.
The government also plans laws to make iron ore and platinum miners sell "small amounts" of output to local processors at a discount to diversify the economy and create jobs.
Labour unrest that paralysed large parts of the mining sector for about three months from August has dented investor confidence, hit growth and sent the rand to near three-year lows against the dollar. It looks set to reignite this year.