South Africa rejects industry push to favor US in mineral trade

The CEO of mining company Sibanye Stillwater claims plan is aimed at improving Pretoria-Washington relations

South African Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe has rejected a proposal by top business leaders to offer the US favorable access to Africa’s critical minerals, accusing them of pushing private interests, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

According to the outlet, the proposal – bearing the phrase “make minerals great again” – was drafted by a group including Sibanye Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman and board member Rick Menell ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in May.

Mantashe said neither the Mines Ministry nor the Minerals Council South Africa, which represents most of the country’s mining firms, was consulted during the plan’s development.

“They didn’t talk to us,” he told Bloomberg, adding that “there can be nothing about mining without” input from the ministry and broader industry. The minister objected to the “make minerals great again” wording in the document, saying it “is not our language.”

“We don’t want a critical minerals strategy for the US,” Mantashe said, instead of “a cross-cutting strategy for everyone.”

The disagreement is the latest in a string of disputes between the state and industry over the country’s mining policy. South Africa holds over 90% of the world’s known platinum group metal reserves and remains Africa’s most developed mining economy, though its gold output has declined in recent years, according to estimates by the Minerals Council South Africa and the World Gold Council.

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Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Stillwater – South Africa’s largest gold producing company – reportedly defended the proposal as an effort to improve Pretoria’s strained ties with Washington. He said it recommended “South Africa providing a springboard into Africa to develop relations and explore the potential to supply critical minerals for the US” by leveraging the industry’s expertise.

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He criticized the government’s approach as hostile to foreign investment, saying “the truculent manner of the minister” deters US capital.

South Africa-US relations have deteriorated since Trump took office, with Washington accusing Pretoria of enabling a so-called “white genocide,” opposing its International Court of Justice case against Israel, and imposing steep trade tariffs.

Mantashe has previously called for halting mineral shipments to the US in response to Trump’s aid cuts.