By: Buhle Mbhele
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has expressed concern over South Africa’s continued export of its rare earth minerals in raw form. The party argues that the country is losing out on the economic benefits that come from processing and refining these critical resources locally.
South Africa possesses significant reserves of strategic minerals, including neodymium, dysprosium, cerium and lanthanum. These minerals are essential in the production of high-tech goods such as electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, smartphones and advanced defence technologies.
In a statement, the MK Party announced its intention to table a private member’s bill in Parliament that would designate rare earth elements (REEs) as strategic national assets. The proposed legislation aims to place these minerals under the direct custodianship of the state and the South African people.
The party believes that greater state control would help prevent the exploitation of the country’s mineral wealth by foreign interests. It also argues that this approach would support local beneficiation and drive industrial development.
“As a country, we continue to export our rare earths in their raw form, while foreign powers reap the economic and technological rewards of processing them. This is unsustainable,” the party said.
In addition, the MK Party is calling for the establishment of a Rare Earths Industrialisation Master Plan. The plan would be aimed at developing a complete local value chain, ranging from exploration and mining to refining and the manufacturing of finished products.
