Johannesburg — THE African National Congress (ANC) yesterday sidestepped strident calls from within its alliance for the nationalisation of mines.

Instead, it listed a series of state initiatives in mining that appeared to have been packaged to placate the ANC Youth League and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which revived the nationalisation debate.

The nationalisation call exposes a yawning divide within alliance ranks, which the ANC appeared to paper over yesterday.

It also steps up pressure on the government to change economic policy, described as too market friendly.

The ANC described its allies' calls for nationalisation as a "debate", which it welcomed. It was neither a "revolt nor a fight".

Key among the initiatives was a state-owned mining company, the formation of which the ANC's secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, said was on track.

Others included laws providing for state ownership of mining rights and black economic empowerment in the sector.

Mantashe said the formation of a state-owned mining company would probably be along the lines of what happened with biofuels. Details would be announced soon.

"If you look at PetroSA, it exists alongside private companies such as BP. That's where we will go with the state-owned mining company," he told Business Day.

Mantashe welcomed the debate created by the ANC's alliance partners, but said the ANC had to put debates in a proper context. A resolution at its Polokwane conference in 2007 on economic transformation said one option would be transferring mineral wealth to the state.

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and Cosatu have invoked the Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955, to back nationalisation calls. Last night, Malema accused ANC members opposing calls to nationalise mines of undermining the charter and ruling party.

"Any person who is against the charter is against the aims of the ANC and the revolutionary alliance," he said.

But Mantashe reaffirmed that the ANC was the "strategic centre" of power, and that it set policy. Hence the need to ensure overall adherence to its implementation. Mantashe has been highly critical of Cosatu for protesting against Reserve Bank inflation targeting, and over strikes.

Cosatu has said it passed a resolution calling for nationalisation, but Mantashe said he could not "implement" a Cosatu resolution.

Speaking on Kaya-FM last night, Mantashe said the debate was not about nationalisation versus privatisation, but about how to implement a mixed economy.

Diamond giant De Beers coexisted with a state-owned mining company in Botswana, and that did not affect its productivity or commitment to shareholders, he said.