De Beers slammed on Botswana mines
September 25, 2009
 By Ann Crotty
Bench Marks study - click here to download full document
De Beers response to Bench Marks study - click here to download full document
De Beers' diamond mining activities in Botswana have failed to generate benefits for communities in the areas where it operates, according to a hard-hitting report compiled by the Bench Marks Foundation.
The report by the church-backed organisation, which has undertaken extensive research into corporate social responsibility in southern Africa, focuses on the activities of Debswana, a company that is jointly owned by De Beers and the Botswana government.
It describes this arrangement as a "marriage", which creates the perception of a dominant relationship that exists "at the expense of communities, human rights, the environment and sustainable local economic development".
Unless the Botswana government takes the necessary steps to assert its independence and its responsibility to its people as a whole, and not just its major corporate citizen, corporate social responsibility campaigns will continue to be ineffective, warns the foundation.
De Beers has hit back with a damning 22-page response in which it charges that the report "neither reflects our experience in Botswana nor the findings of numerous reputable independent studies by academics and bodies ranging from the UN Development Programme to the World Bank".
De Beers says these other studies "highlight Botswana's unique success in using its diamond wealth to drive sustainable development at both a community and national level as well as the role played by Botswana's exceptional governance record in this process".
In response to what it describes as De Beers' "dismissive and trivialising" reaction, the foundation referred to a UN Development Report for 2007/08, which incorporates a Human Development Index and which places Botswana at position out of 177 countries.
The same UN report describes Botswana as one of the most unequal societies in the world. It further notes that 47 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line of $2 (R15) a day.
And, according to the foundation, unemployment in Botswana remains high at between 24 percent and 40 percent.
Bench Marks stresses that, in addition to its own field research, it has used an extensive array of sources such as the UN, World Bank, De Beers, the Brenthurst Foundation and the Botswana government.
However, it emphasises that the focus of its research is on engaging with the affected communities. "Bench Marks takes pride in reflecting the silenced voices of ordinary members of communities, rural peasants, workers, the poorest of the poor; those people global institutions talk about but don't talk to."
The areas of disagreement between Bench Marks and De Beers are extensive. But there are some areas of agreement, chief of which is that diamonds dominate the Botswana economy and the country's gems are extremely important to De Beers.
Debswana accounts for between 70 percent and 80 percent of Botswana's total export earnings. The company contributes between 30 percent and 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product and provides around 40 percent of annual government revenues.
What is also not disputed is that, as a result of suffering the world's highest HIV infection rate, life expectancy in Botswana has plummeted to 35 years, from 64 years in 1990.
Also not disputed is that Botswana's diamond resources will have been completely mined by 2025.
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