The world’s largest mining company has a problem. Australia’s BHP has set out its intentions to snap up rival miner Anglo American in a multibillion-pound deal which would reshape the global industry. Its proposed £31bn takeover plan has already been rebuffed as a lowball offer which 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. As a result Anglo American has held a role at the centre of South Africa’s fortunes, affording the company enormous soft power in the country’s economic and political development. In return, South Africa’s government is Anglo’s largest shareholder, with a 7% stake held via its Public Investment Corporation. A takeover would effectively strip South Africa of a 100-year bond with one of the world’s biggest companies. “Nobody here views this deal favourably,” James Lorimer, the shadow minister for mining and natural resources, said. “Anglo American’s business here...