The ANC Youth League tops the pops in running for 2010's Darwin Awards.

JOHANNESBURG - Indigestion and heartburn are quickly becoming South Africa's most favoured pastimes, as the ANC Youth League continues its crazed and extinction-seeking talk about nationalising the country's mines. This week, the mines minister, Susan Shabangu, who could, at least in theory, also be nauseated by the ongoing tirades, said that nationalisation of mines would "not happen in her lifetime".

De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer expressed appreciation for the minister's expression, and was met by a torrent of abuse from the ANC Youth League, which branded Oppenheimer "totally dishonest and criminal", adding that Shabangu "is not the ANC".

For years now, South Africa's private sector has dragged the public sector along, kicking and screaming, whether it likes it or not. It is no coincidence that the only really efficient arm of government, Sars, the tax collectors, operates under an unofficially exclusive mandate. The vast majority of government ministries and departments operate under mandate of the ANC, and, ye gods, what a fine sight they each and all are.

The drivel from the ANC Youth League, and its febrile cousin, the Young Communist League, is really stinking up the joint. There are two key issues which can be put up for discussion; not that the ANC Youth League, populated by raving wannabe tin pot dictators, is prepared to discuss anything.

Khume Ramulifho, an office bearer of the official opposition, noted on Wednesday that "this morning's edition of Tim Modise's After Eight Debate on SAfm [radio] was originally intended to be a debate on the nationalisation of South Africa's mines, following the ANC Youth League's release of a ‘discussion document' on that topic. However, when the ANC Youth League found out that it would actually have to debate that document with other youth organisations, rather than merely engage in soliloquy, they said it would pull out of the debate, and eventually the topic was changed to something milder (‘general youth issues in South Africa today')".

Topic One for the ANC Youth League and its myrmidons is to address the horrifying costs, shouldered by taxpayers, of bailing out parastatals, managed under government policy as if they are bent out old whores. There is no hiding on this one; one advantage of democracy, such as it is, in the country, is the requirement that the ANC answer questions formally addressed to it in Parliament.

It ignores a good number of these, and dodges a good number of others, but has conceded that in the three financial years to March 312009, an eye-popping R242bn was hurled at parastatals for bail out purposes. Most, at R189bn, went to Eskom, the beleagured electricity monopoly, which continues to lurch from one crisis to the next. Perhaps the ANC Youth League could explain why Eskom is now without a chairman, CEO or financial director. There are two people acting in those three positions, but that is just not good enough.

Topic Two is for the ANC Youth League to explain why it wants mines nationalised, when at the same time, the ANC at national level is calling for private sector participation in Eskom's new build programme, specifically at the proposed Kusile power station. Eskom has been "nationalised" for decades; as its sole shareholder, government, in the ANC's grubby clothes, has shown a complete inability to recognise the country's biggest crisis since "democracy" in 1994.

The private sector will continue dragging the public sector and parastatals forward, kicking and screaming. The country's private sector gold mines (for one) on the Witwatersrand have been running commercially since 1884, and have always been supportive of entities that supply power, of which Eskom has been around the longest.

The ANC Youth League just doesn't get it, and no doubt, it never will. Leave it in peace to award all its office bearers kilograms of medals, while they remain in top running place for the 2010 winners of the Darwin Awards. For those unfamiliar with these distinguished recognitions, they are advertised as "A Chronicle of Enterprising Demises Honoring those who improve the species . . . by accidentally removing themselves from it!"

Write to Barry Sergeant: barry@moneyweb.co.za

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