A proposal by South Africa’s biggest mining company and other business leaders advising President Cyril Ramaphosa on how to offer the US access to Africa’s critical minerals angered the nation’s mining minister who saw it as an attempt by the firm to advance its own interests.

The plan was put forward by the group, which included Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman and board member Rick Menell, before Ramaphosa’s May 21 meeting with President Donald Trump. Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said he objected because his department hadn’t been involved in its creation, and neither had the Minerals Council South Africa, which represents most mining companies operating in the country.

“I did talk to people who put it together,” Mantashe said in an interview, mentioning Menell by name. “They didn’t talk to us and there can be nothing about mining without” input from the ministry and broader industry, he said, explaining why he didn’t advocate it to Ramaphosa.

The spat highlights long-running disputes over the country’s mining strategy between the government and the private sector. But the minister saw the approach putting Sibanye-Stillwater’s interests ahead of the industry, according to two people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Froneman disputed the characterisation.

The industry has previously complained about red tape as well as regulatory and policy uncertainty. In December, the Daily Maverick reported that the mining department hadn’t processed any of the 2 525 mining applications it received in the financial year that began on April 1, 2023.

In May, the Minerals Council said new draft regulations put together by the ministry failed to include its inputs.

“Government routinely issues bills and amendments to existing policy without involving or considering other stakeholders,” Froneman said in a response to queries.

‘MAKE MINERALS GREAT AGAIN’
Mantashe said the business leaders’ proposal had included wording along the lines of “make minerals great again,” which “is not our language.”

“We don’t want a critical minerals strategy for the US,” Mantashe told Bloomberg. We want “a cross-cutting strategy for everyone,” he said. Mantashe has previously advocated halting shipments of minerals to the US in retaliation for it stopping aid to the country.

The business leaders proposed “South Africa providing a springboard into Africa to develop relations and explore the potential to supply critical minerals for the US” by harnessing the industry’s expertise, Froneman said. It was also aimed at improving the frosty relations between the countries.

That relationship has deteriorated since Trump’s inauguration in January. Trump has falsely accused South Africa’s government of presiding over a genocide of White farmers, questioned its relations with Russia and China, objected to it initiating a court case against Israel and imposed a 30% trade tariff on many of the goods South Africa sends to the US, the highest on any country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mineral exports are largely excluded from the tariffs.

The US is South Africa’s second-biggest trade partner after China. In 2024, the countries traded $21.6-billion of merchandise, with South Africa reporting a $7.7-billion surplus, International Monetary Fund data shows.

A day before the Ramaphosa-Trump meeting, Mantashe issued a government statement on the cabinet’s approval of his department’s own critical minerals strategy, which focused on his country’s needs.

That strategy identified coal, chrome ore, iron ore, manganese and platinum as critical minerals, rather than materials found in abundance elsewhere in Africa such as copper, cobalt and lithium. South Africa doesn’t produce in large quantities of the latter three, which are key to global electronics, battery, artificial intelligence and renewable energy industries.

The US has proposed mineral supply deals with a number of countries including Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda as it seeks to cut China’s hold on supply chains for the minerals.

Froneman, who retires later this year, said he was part of a business delegation of about six people that traveled to the US earlier this year — “with the full knowledge” of Ramaphosa — to gauge how to improve relations between the two countries.

Menell, who was also part of the delegation, declined to comment.

Froneman said the proposal hadn’t specifically mentioned any company and had the scope to be broader than mining. He said Mantashe’s approach would limit the ability of the local mining industry to grow.

“Both our foreign and local mining industry policies and the truculent manner of the minister make South Africa a destination of little interest to foreign mining capital investment, especially from the US,” he said. “South Africa-focused critical minerals strategies as proposed by minister Mantashe are unlikely to deliver any value.”

It’s unclear whether Ramaphosa discussed critical minerals with Trump during that visit, the people said.

Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, declined to comment and directed queries to Mantashe.