South Africa stands at a crossroads that will determine whether it remains the custodian of its mineral wealth or becomes merely the site of extraction for others’ prosperity. The proposed Anglo American–Teck merger, which effectively relocates one of South Africa’s most powerful historic corporations to Canada, is not just a financial restructuring. It is a national test.
A test of whether our laws, institutions and parliament can protect our sovereign economic interests, or whether they will once again stand by as another chapter of colonial-style extraction is written into history. Our constitution and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) make clear that South Africa’s mineral resources are the common heritage of all its people. The state, acting as custodian, must ensure these finite assets are developed “for the benefit of all South Africans”.
But the Anglo–Teck deal reveals the hollowness of that promise. Between 2021 and 2024, Anglo American’s tax and royalty contributions to South Africa fell by 78%, while the company announced a C$4.5bn (R54.2bn) investment in Canada. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the largest South African shareholder, managing pensions for public servants, has raised no public objection, conducted no shareholder review, and issued no statement of concern.
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In effect, our sovereign wealth is being moved offshore with no oversight, no transparency and no accountability. The very institutions meant to defend the public interest, the PIC, the department of mineral and petroleum resources (DMPR) and parliament, are silent. Yet, in Canada, where Anglo is now relocating, such a transaction would have triggered an automatic national-interest review under their Investment Canada Act (ICA).
When Canada published its critical minerals strategy in 2022, it didn’t frame it as a trade policy. It was a national security doctrine. Canada declared its minerals — copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt — as strategic assets that underpin its industrial future, technological sovereignty and global competitiveness.
If a deal fails that test, the government can block it, as it did with Glencore’s 2023 attempt to acquire Teck Resources. Canada’s system balances openness with vigilance. It doesn’t reject foreign capital; it conditions it on national benefit.
The outcome is a strategic state, one that governs markets, rather than being governed by them. It promises to “unlock investment”, “create jobs”, and “position South Africa as a global supplier”, but nowhere does it define what constitutes a net benefit to the nation.
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