A Piece of the Pie: The Battle over Nationalisation, by Tim Cohen

‘We don’t care who says what. Nationalisation will become the policy of the ANC’ – Julius Malema, 19 February 2010

‘The minister [Susan Shabangu] was pretty forthright in saying that there will be nationalisation over her dead body. Now you couldn’t ask for a clearer statement than that.’ – Trevor Manuel, Minister in the Presidency, February 2012

NATIONALISATION: SWEARWORD FOR SOME, CURE-ALL FOR OTHERS BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE RULING PARTY

TIM COHEN, a senior journalist with many years' experience in both political and business reporting, traces the emergence of calls for nationalisation in South Africa. It is a subject which has generated the most fiercely argued and passionate economic debate of modern-day South African politics. This is particularly so since the call for nationalisation is so closely associated with the emergence of the controversial Julius Malema, although the policy also has strong support from within the trade union movement.

A PIECE OF THE PIE offers a short, accessible overview of the political and economic debate surrounding nationalisation that emerged within the African National Congress after the 2009 general election. It traces the history of nationalisation and privatisation, both locally and internationally, and discusses the economic and political arguments that have made it such a topical and contentious issue in local politics. This book is an attempt to understand nationalisation more completely in order to enrich the ongoing debate.