‘IN KIMBERLEY, THE WORLD'S DIAMOND CAPITAL, ILLICIT MINING FIGHT FLOUNDERS’ 12 November 2019

The first South African project to bring illegal miners into the formal fold has been plagued by violence in diamond capital Kimberley, dealing a major blow to national efforts to stem a booming illicit trade. The project was launched 18 months ago in Kimberley, the site of a 19th-century diamond rush that lured fortune-seekers from the world over. Mine owners granted more than 800 unlicensed, or informal, small-scale miners the right to legally mine around 1,500 acres of diamond-rich waste fields.

The aim of the government-backed scheme was to curb illegal mining and black-market trade of diamonds, and serve as a blueprint for future attempts elsewhere in the country, not only in the diamond sector, but also potentially manganese, gold and chrome. However, the project has been hit by violence, with informal miners not included in the scheme attacking infrastructure and even members of the newly licensed cooperative, according to mine owner Ekapa Minerals which is running the initiative.

…The Ekapa project’s woes show the urgent need for the government to provide clear policy on small-scale or “artisanal” mining using rudimentary techniques, campaigners say. In contrast with other African countries such as Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, South African law has no provisions for this. “Our legislative framework is just missing in action when it comes to artisanal and small-scale mining,” said David Perkins, an economist at Mining Dialogues 360, an NGO. Efforts to bring illegal mining into the mainstream are also hindered by a lack of accurate data about how many are involved, what income they generate, and under what conditions they work.