Johannesburg  - President Jacob Zuma squashed more than two years of talk on Friday about the nationalisation of South Africa's massive mining sector, saying state control or ownership of the mines in the world's biggest platinum producer could not work.

Asked during a televised breakfast briefing if the government planned to nationalise mines, Zuma said emphatically: "We're very clear. It is not our policy. We've been saying this inside the country, outside the country. It cannot be."

"We have answered this question many times. We are very clear," he added. "Our policy is mixed economy."

Coming at the end of a week in which two senior ministers dismissed nationalisation as unviable and the ruling ANC released a study describing it as an "unmitigated disaster", Zuma's comments lay to rest two years of debate that hit South Africa's image as an investor-friendly emerging market.

Radical elements within the African National Congress (ANC) are still likely to float an idea first raised by Youth League leader Julius Malema, especially as the party approaches major conferences in June and December.

However, Malema's suspension from the party at the end of last year for disciplinary offences and the growing ranks of declared and heavyweight opponents of nationalisation mean the idea is not going anywhere.

"You cannot ask for greater clarity," said political consultant Nic Borain. "If you look at the words the document uses, and you take what Zuma said today, I think we can put this issue to bed.

"Read altogether, this is the ANC very clearly saying 'Our task as government is to get the most out of these resources.' Nationalisation would be a catastrophe."