Johannesburg — SA HAS put together a list of black candidates for a new chairman of Anglo American, including business magnate and former union leader Cyril Ramaphosa, a government source said yesterday.

The country wants to have a stronger influence in Anglo, the biggest mining player, especially now that it is a target of a "merger of equals" proposal from rival Xstrata, said the high-level source .

Anglo has the bulk of its global workforce in SA, and the government wants to avoid any potential job losses.

Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu confirmed the government wanted a black to replace retiring Anglo chairman Mark Moody-Stuart, but did not name any candidates.

" Anglo American is rooted in SA and it is one of the single biggest players in the South African economy," Shabangu said.

"Therefore, in line with government policy, we would prefer to have a black South African as the chairperson of Anglo. We believe this would be a positive signal that, going forward, Anglo is committed to SA, to the transformation of our economy and the development of our country." With Reuters