Minister of industries, mines and energy Natangue Ithete this week buttressed the government target that “locals” must own at least 51% of all mining activities.
Ithete was speaking at the 12th Mining Expo and Conference, held under the theme: ‘Mining for Namibia’s Future: Job Creation, Local Empowerment and Economic Transformation’.
“The government’s strategic priorities remain clear: value addition, beneficiation, local content, development, skills transfer and employment creation,” said Ithete.
We trust that the priorities are not set in the order that Ithete puts them. No doubt job creation is the top priority followed by skills transfer. We know that mines, including the petroleum industry, will not generate massive job opportunities beyond the current 21 000, and will not make a dent in the number of more than 320 000 Namibians who are unemployed.
It is, therefore, concerning that government leaders like Ithete keep misleading the public with populist rhetoric that investors will be forced to cede at least 51% of their businesses to “local”.
Call it whatever name (local empowerment), black economic empowerment (BEE) policies have, since independence, only served to make millionaires of a tiny group of pre-independence “economically disadvantaged” Namibians.
Even government shareholding offered at so-called “free carry” will come at the cost of less taxes to state coffers.
In fact, the Fishrot saga has shown that giving licences to “locals” over the past 35 years has not translated into broad-based economic empowerment. If anything, BEE policies and the actions of government officials have led to the depletion of fish like pilchard, mackerel and tuna.
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What makes this worse is that the government knows what will work: its experiment to auction fishing quotas netted about N$1 billion directly into tax coffers. In stark contrast, the so-called Namibianisation policy has even led to failure to pay levies and fees associated with fishing.
What makes government leaders believe that a policy that has failed abysmally over three and a half decades will succeed now?
At least take stock of the past 35 years since independence to appreciate what will work best. Our bet would be to make sure that the government collects funds directly from businesses which goes directly into tax coffers.
It’s a mistake for the government to continue focusing on creating multi-millionaires, as a myriad of BEE policies have shown.
Voters and taxpayers must remember the expression “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”.
Applauding doubling-up on the same BEE policies that cost the overall population funds to deliver social development and economic gains is being “fooled twice”.
Do not continue being tricked with promises of prosperity for all, when facts show it’s nothing but political trickery.
