Kagiso Nkhoma, by e-mail: The nationalisation discussion is often reduced to one of the ANC Youth League's agenda, and specifically of its president, Julius Malema, but it's bigger than that.

The Freedom Charter upon which our Constitution is modelled should not be selectively implemented; all the key aspects of the charter must be realised - including "the mineral wealth beneath the soil and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole".

The youth of today constitute the majority of the unemployed, unskilled and poor, and that requires us to be the custodians and lobbyists of the nationalisation agenda, regardless of our ethnic and political background.

Nationalisation will help to bring a degree of economic equity to the country. South Africa is a country with a widening chasm in income inequality, with whites becoming increasingly wealthy and extending their control over the economy by means of this growth in wealth, while blacks are, on average, living below the poverty line.

It is necessary to dilute industry, thereby removing the power base of apartheid capitalism, because the power in our economy is concentrated. The major companies listed on the JSE colluded with apartheid agents and the government to form an irresistible power base of apartheid capitalism.

The only way to dismantle the political and economic power of the capitalist owners of industry is for the state to take control of these industries.

Many miners are being paid starvation wages and it is evident that the capitalist mine owners are rewarding themselves and their shareholders considerably more than their workers.

The only way to ensure corporate allegiance to society, rather than to shareholders, is to make society the mines' majority shareholder; nationalisation will protect those who invest their lives, as opposed to those who invest their money.

The unemployed are living in poverty and can't afford to go to university, and the government can't afford to give everyone a free education, another reason for the mines to be nationalised.

Nationalisation will also protect jobs and create new ones.

The ruling party's acceptance of the Freedom Charter was its first endorsement of nationalisation. It should be held accountable for the commitment it made to the people of South Africa.

Nationalisation, resulting in socialism, would carry through the process of democracy, consistent with the will of the people.

We must rally behind this call to ensure that nationalisation materialises in our lifetime, for a better tomorrow.