Mantashe says SA should withhold minerals from US
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe wants South Africa to withhold the sales of minerals to the US should it decide to cut off aid to the country.
Mantashe made the remarks during his keynote address on Monday at the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.
The four-day mining indaba will take stock of state mining on the continent and in South Africa.
His remarks come after US President Donald Trump said the US federal government would withhold aid funding to South Africa, claiming the government was “confiscating land”.
Trump on Sunday accused South Africa of "confiscating" land and "treating certain classes of people very badly" as he announced he was cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.
READ: Trump accuses S.Africa of 'confiscating' land, cuts funding
In a briefing with journalists, Trump said that South Africa's "leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things" without providing any supporting evidence.
"So that's under investigation right now. We'll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing -- they're taking away land and confiscating land, and actually, they're doing things that are perhaps far worse than that,” Trump told reporters.
In response, Mantashe urged Africa to use its minerals as economic leverage.
"Africa needs to accept its advantage and take charge of the growing demand. I have ministers in my cabinet who always worry about geopolitics, with this imminent threat that because we passed an Expropriation Act, Trump will withhold funding to South Africa.
"Let’s withhold minerals from the US. That is it. If they don’t give us money, let us not give them minerals. But the reality is that they take our minerals but say they are withholding funding. No, we have minerals in the continent, and therefore, we have something. We are not just beggars."
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa to engage with Trump on land reform
Mantashe added that South Africa and the rest of the continent should be unapologetic about leveraging their mineral resources to negotiate their desired outcomes, even when engaging global superpowers.
"If, as a continent, we are frightened, we fear everything, we are going to collapse, and we will collapse with minerals at our doorstep. So my appeal is that Africa is the world’s richest mining jurisdiction and that issue is an issue that we must internalise as a continent and use to our advantage."
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