Mining Weekly reports that diamond company De Beers expressed concern over the Bench Marks Foundation’s (BMF) description of Botswana’s diamond industry and De Beers’ role in it.



The executive director of the non-profit organization BMF, John Capel, stated in a recent report that the De Beers diamond mining company had indeed added a significant amount of cash to Botswana’s coffers through its diamond operations in the country. However, the report claimed that the relationship with Botswana is extremely complex, and while the Botswana government benefits in terms of revenue, it lacks the power to ensure that diamond mining did not harm indigenous communities.



Mining Weekly quotes Capel: “This is a corporate challenge and diamond miner De Beers needs to state what their position is regarding indigenous communities, in particular concerning the mining in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.”



He added: “De Beers needs to be able to show that their operations are fair, just and that profits they make are done so ethically.”



De Beers responded yesterday, claiming that the BMF report neither reflected the company’s experience in Botswana, nor the findings of numerous independent studies conducted by academics and entities including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank.



De Beers stated: “In contrast to the BMF’s report, these highlight Botswana’s unique success in using its diamond wealth to drive sustainable development at both the community and national level, as well as the role played by Botswana’s exceptional governance record in this process.”



De Beers further noted: “The Debswana diamond company is widely recognized as one of the most successful public-private partnerships in the world in terms of its contribution to national and community development with in the region of 80% of all gross profits realized by Debswana going into government revenues. As such, Debswana’s direct contribution to community development in Botswana vastly exceeds even the most stringent benchmarks for social investment.”



The BMF also criticized conditions at Debswana’s diamond mining towns, noting the ‘closed’ living conditions in the towns operated by the company, which “reinforces the closed/secretive nature” of the diamond mining sector in Botswana.



De Beers responded by saying that its Jwaneng township was “open and freely accessible”, while Orapa was “accessible with appropriate permission.” The diamond mining group said that Orapa was home to many non-Debswana employees.



De Beers added that the BMF had made a number of factual errors in its report nor did it interview De Beers or Debswana management or government officials.