Johannesburg — IT IS too soon to talk about the level of state involvement in the mining sector because there is no long-term strategy for the industry yet, said Joel Netshitenzhe, executive director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.

Mr Netshitenzhe - a member of the National Planning Commission as well as the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee - hit a measured note on the question of nationalisation at a Mining For Change conference in Johannesburg yesterday.

The potential nationalisation of mines has been raised by foreign and local investors as an area of concern. The government has repeatedly said that it is not its policy to nationalise the country's mines, but there is a faction within the ruling party calling for such a move as a way to address social inequalities that still exist 16 years into democracy.

Mr Netshitenzhe's stance was in stark contrast to that of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, who yesterday reiterated calls for the formation of a state mining company to house all mineral rights and for companies to join it as 40% partners on a number of minerals.

Mr Malema said the state should own strategic minerals, such as coal and iron ore, outright.

The debate comes ahead of the ANC's national general council meeting, which starts on September 20 in Durban, where nationalisation has been put on the agenda for discussion by the youth league.

Mr Netshitenzhe said all role players in the mining sector needed to "knuckle down as a matter of urgency" to contribute to a national strategic plan for mining.

"You cannot, as a matter of principle, argue that the state should hold the following percentage of mining production when you do not even have a strategy for the mining sector," he said. "You can't argue that a state should operate mines ... without having a look at the cost and benefit of such action when the state, by pegging the mining royalties differently, would get those resources without the pain of having to mine those products as well."