JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – More than a third of South Africa’s metropolitan residents indicated that South Africa’s mines should be nationalised, TNS Research Surveys revealed on Monday.

A survey of 2 000 metropolitan residents found that 38% of adults were in favour of nationalisation, while 28% disagreed and a considerable 34% gave a “don’t know” response, suggesting that the positive and negative aspects of the issue have yet to be fully explained to people.

The survey showed that the level of agreement differed considerably by race, which could be a divisive issue.

“While no grouping has a majority in favour of nationalising South Africa’s mines, blacks are in favour by more than two to one, while whites are not in favour by almost three to one, with a 56% majority being negative.”

According to the survey, Afrikaans speakers were the most negative about nationalisation, while Tswana speakers were the most positive. Males tended to be more in agreement at 41%, than females at 34%. Levels of agreement rose somewhat for younger people, from 22% for those aged 60 years and more to 41% for those younger than 34 years.

In line with the results by race, more affluent people were much more negative, but there were no differences between employed and unemployed people, the survey revealed. The “don’t know” response was also much higher for poorer people who may have other more immediate challenges.

TNS reported that the results showed strong differences by area. In Gauteng, 42% of people agreed with nationalisation, while only 27% was positive about it in Cape Town and 38% in Durban. The Eastern Cape was 29% in favour of nationalisation, while Bloemfontein ranked most positive at 48%.

“This is clearly a divisive and potentially emotive issue. However, it is also characterised by a lack of knowledge of the pros and cons, particularly among poorer people and in places where mining is a possibly lower contributor to the economy.”