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13 Oct, 2025
No more raw deals: UDM calls for industrialisation through beneficiation
Statement by Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP, UDM Deputy President and Leader in Parliament The United Democratic Movement (UDM) welcomes the growing national recognition that South Africa can no longer afford to export its mineral wealth in raw form. Mining expert David van Wyk, senior researcher at the Bench Mark Foundation, has echoed what the UDM has consistently maintained: that sending our raw minerals abroad while importing finished goods back at high prices is economic madness that robs South Africans of jobs, skills, and industrial capacity. We also note that President Ramaphosa and Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe have recently begun echoing the same arguments that the UDM has advanced for decades. It seems that government has at last cottoned onto our long-standing policy vision that beneficiation is not a slogan but the foundation for a self-reliant and inclusive economy. However, beneficiation cannot succeed through rhetoric alone. It requires practical readiness and firm commitment to implementation. South Africa needs affordable and reliable electricity, efficient rail and port systems, well-maintained roads and water infrastructure, sustained investment in research and technology, sound legislative frameworks, and policy certainty that inspires confidence among responsible investors. Without these foundations, talk of industrialisation will remain hollow. These are not new insights; they are the very obstacles the UDM has been raising in Parliament and in public since the late 1990s. In particular, the UDM reiterates that the revival of the national rail network is central to any beneficiation strategy. Rail is the backbone of mineral logistics, yet years of neglect, theft, and mismanagement at Transnet have crippled our ability to move bulk commodities cost-effectively. The UDM calls for an urgent rail recovery plan that includes modernisation of freight corridors, tighter security along strategic lines, and partnerships with the private sector and neighbouring states to open regional export routes. Without a reliable and affordable rail system, the promise of beneficiation will remain out of reach and South Africa will continue to lose billions to inefficiency and road damage. The UDM calls for the following: 1. Compulsory and measurable beneficiation targets that ensure South Africa no longer exports its wealth in raw form. This must be backed by reliable and affordable electricity, functioning transport networks, and a modern rail system capable of carrying bulk commodities and finished products efficiently. 2. A phased and strategic approach to export controls that links any restrictions or taxes to proven domestic readiness. Government must first fix energy, rail, and port infrastructure before introducing policies that could undermine mining operations or investment. 3. Focused public incentives for companies that process minerals locally, including tax relief, concessional financing, and access to industrial zones. These incentives must reward firms that create jobs, invest in new technology, and commit to training South African workers. 4. Concrete benefit-sharing for mining communities through local procurement, infrastructure investment, social facilities, and ownership opportunities. The people living alongside mines must see tangible improvements in their daily lives as part of beneficiation policy. 5. An urgent national rail recovery and modernisation plan to rebuild Transnet’s freight capacity, strengthen security against theft and vandalism, and link mining areas to ports and industrial hubs across the SADC region. Efficient rail transport will reduce road damage, lower logistics costs, and unlock regional trade potential. 6. A coordinated governance structure that brings together the Departments of Mineral Resources and Energy, Trade, Industry and Competition, Public Enterprises, Transport, and Science and Innovation. This structure must track progress, align funding, and report annually to Parliament on beneficiation outcomes. For too long, South Africa’s mineral riches have been a blessing squandered. Beneficiation offers a path to rebuild our industries and restore dignity to our people. The Government of National Unity must now prove that it governs for South Africans, not for exporters and elites.
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26 Jan, 2014
West Rand Region Rally at Wedela Stadium in Carletonville
Speech by Bantu Holomisa, UDM President Programme Director, UDM NEC Members, UDM Gauteng PEC Members, UDM West Rand Regional Leadership, UDM Members, Fellow South Africans: Thank you to you all for making this rally a success. Words fail me to express how grateful we are for your hard work and contribution. Many of you come from and work in the surrounding mines. This places the assessment of the impact of economic conditions in this area at the centre of my speech today. This year South Africa celebrates twenty of democracy. This provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made and the distance covered. As people who are responsible for mining the mineral wealth of this country, questions should be asked whether the ruling party has done enough to empower you both economically and otherwise. The answer to this question is regrettably an emphatic no! Since 1994, the ruling party has adopted policies that go against the spirit of the Freedom Charter, which says that the mineral wealth of the nation should be shared by all. The ruling party has instead develop policies, such as the Black Economic Empowerment, which enrich select few politically connected individuals. Such policies have left the poor, the marginalised and you the working class without economic freedom. While this occurs, some of the architects of the Constitution and our political liberty live in extraordinary opulence. These people are now the new lot of billionaires that continue to protect the interests of monopoly capital at your expense. As workers, you had high hopes that our political freedom would translate into job opportunities and meaningful economic freedom. This has not happened. Instead your former comrades and friends have turned against. They work with the capitalists to mechanise operations here, so as to increase profits. This results in many of you being retrenched every now and again. These predators are now obsessed with building railway lines to transport raw materials to countries like China for further processing because their primary focus is profit maximisation. Their modus operandi now affects all industries, including steel. Are these not the same people who always promise to beneficiate our natural recourses as a way to create jobs? One of the things that embarrass us as a nation is the level and the extent of corruption in the public sector. You heard that recently an amount of R6 million was set aside by the Eastern Cape government for the memorial service of the late former President Nelson Mandela. However, according to media reports it now turns out that the money was used to print ANC t-shirts for the 2014 elections and that these hyenas used some of it to spoil their girlfriends. How can such people claim to be serious about fighting corruption if the culprits walk scot free scandal after scandal? On Sunday the 02 of February 2013 in Nasrec, the UDM will be launching its manifesto where it will explain to you the slippery slope in which South Africa finds itself in under the ruling party. I thank you.
