A top South African government officials says that nationalizing the nation's mines is not likely, according to reports.

The views of individuals on these questions do not amount to policy, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said, according to fin24.

Speaking Friday to a meeting at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg, Motlanthe said South Africans were more inclined to listen to sound bites and individuals than to refer to government policy on nationalization.

Policy gets repeated over and over again but what South Africa hears... is the sound-bites from individuals.

The ruling African National Congress has appointed three economists to investigate the success and failure of nationalization in 12 countries, after calls from its Youth League to nationalize mines and banks.

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