BHP’s pursuit of Anglo American has a major obstacle: South Africa

Anglo American, which owns the diamond producer De Beers, was built on the backs of cheap black labour during decades of racial oppression, but its founders also acted as a driving force behind the dismantling of the apartheid state. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

The world’s largest mining company has a problem. Australia’s BHP has set out its intention to snap up the rival miner Anglo American in a multibillion-pound deal that would reshape the global industry. Its proposed £31bn takeover plan has already been rebuffed as a lowball offer that undervalues the company. But Anglo’s deep roots in South Africa could be a far more sensitive issue to address.

Africa’s most advanced economy was built on mining. For more than 150 years since the first discovery of diamonds, gold and coal, the industry has remained South Africa’s economic lifeblood. Today it is the world’s fifth largest producer of coal and diamonds and the 10th largest producer of gold.