Botswana: Diamonds And Reputation Could Be Hit By Bushmen Eviction Boycott
Diamond giant De Beers' strategy of going for increased consumer awareness may take a hit because of the mounting campaign in favour of the Khoisan Bushmen evicted from Botswana's central Kalahari reserve.
The boycott campaign being conducted by rights organizations in the US and Europe has been given a fillip by the expulsion of a critical academic. In addition Botswana's President Festus Mogae has been shooting himself in the foot with well-publicised and racially obnoxious statements about the Bushmen.
The case has already damaged Botswana's prized reputation as the sole democratic and economic success story in Africa outside of South Africa and analysts say this may be the main fallout of the case, beyond increasing the generalized negative view of diamonds inherited from the 'conflict diamonds' publicity.
The boycott campaign being conducted by rights organizations in the US and Europe has been given a fillip by the expulsion of a critical academic. In addition Botswana's President Festus Mogae has been shooting himself in the foot with well-publicised and racially obnoxious statements about the Bushmen.
The case has already damaged Botswana's prized reputation as the sole democratic and economic success story in Africa outside of South Africa and analysts say this may be the main fallout of the case, beyond increasing the generalized negative view of diamonds inherited from the 'conflict diamonds' publicity.
De Beers has in the past few years shifted its focus from its traditional approach of supply management, where it would limit supply to the market to maintain a balance between overall supply and demand, to demand creation.
This, however, has made it especially vulnerable to consumer pressure.
The primary objective of its initiative has been to increase demand for diamonds by raising the advertising to sales ratio for diamond jewelry from its level of 0.5 per cent in the late 1990s closer to the average of about 10 per cent in the luxury products sector.
In January 2001, De Beers announced a joint venture with LVMH, the French luxury goods group, with a view to leading the industry in developing and promoting new brands in the diamond jewelry market and to increase overall demand for diamonds, which will benefit all producers.
Approximately 75 per cent of the world's annual production of rough diamonds is marketed through the De Beers-controlled Diamond Trading Company (DTC) which markets all De Beers production as well as production bought from other mines both on long term contracts and on the open market.
Rough diamond prices increased at an average annual rate of approximately 5 per cent between 1985 and 2000, and substantially outperformed oil, gold and the Economist commodity price index over that period.
The present furore is likely to hit all diamond miners in Botswana - De Beers in only the most visible. The company holds the concession on a large diamond deposit in the reserve and is prospecting for more, but it claims its finds are "subeconomic", though it has paid out millions of dollars on the area and keeps a licence to mine there in the future. Concession maps show that De Beers owns concessions on a small section of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but BHP Billiton and other mining companies own a majority of concessions.
The rights organisation Survival International has been conducting a high profile campaign in the US, and has also called for a boycott of De Beers.
It has been joined by international models who have rejected working for De Beers.
The controversy has focused on the eviction of the last remaining Gana and Gwi Bushmen and Bakgalagadi from their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The Botswana government and De Beers both deny that diamonds have anything to do with the evictions but government officials confirmed this as the cause and Mogae told BBC television this month that in every case where diamonds could be mined he would evict residents.
There are suspicions that the government has been watching the case of the Nama people in South Africa, who were decades back moved away from their land near the Orange River and who have now won large compensation payments from the companies involved in mining diamonds there.
Botswana ended provision of water, food, and health services to the Bushmen under the premise that governmental costs had grown too expensive. The Bushmen sued the government in April 2002 and on August 2 Botswana's High Court is to hear whether or not diamond mining exists in the region.
The boycott campaign was given a boost by the expulsion of an Australian academic who criticised Mogae over his policies and the alleged lack of democracy in the country. He lost his appeal on July 27 against the deportation order.
Kenneth Good had written a research paper arguing that the system for presidential succession was undemocratic. Mogae has said he plans to step down in 2008 and hand over power to his hand-picked successor Ian Khama, one year before the presidential election.
In the evictions case the judges are not friendly to the Bushmen. Yet even though they expect to lose here, but if the case goes to appeal, the judges will be drawn from other Commonwealth countries, and the Bushmen are confident of winning. The Botswana government is planning to change the clause in the constitution which protects areas like the CKGR. There are Bushmen in many of the surrounding countries, but the CKGR group is the most viable and independent group of all.
Interest in the situation of the Botswana Bushmen has been heightened by the decision of the UN to send a special rapporteur to South Africa to to assess the condition of the Khoisan communities there. The SA government is seeking to reverse the systematic marginalisation of the Khoisan communities, and this has sharpened the contrast with Botswana.
This, however, has made it especially vulnerable to consumer pressure.
The primary objective of its initiative has been to increase demand for diamonds by raising the advertising to sales ratio for diamond jewelry from its level of 0.5 per cent in the late 1990s closer to the average of about 10 per cent in the luxury products sector.
In January 2001, De Beers announced a joint venture with LVMH, the French luxury goods group, with a view to leading the industry in developing and promoting new brands in the diamond jewelry market and to increase overall demand for diamonds, which will benefit all producers.
Approximately 75 per cent of the world's annual production of rough diamonds is marketed through the De Beers-controlled Diamond Trading Company (DTC) which markets all De Beers production as well as production bought from other mines both on long term contracts and on the open market.
Rough diamond prices increased at an average annual rate of approximately 5 per cent between 1985 and 2000, and substantially outperformed oil, gold and the Economist commodity price index over that period.
The present furore is likely to hit all diamond miners in Botswana - De Beers in only the most visible. The company holds the concession on a large diamond deposit in the reserve and is prospecting for more, but it claims its finds are "subeconomic", though it has paid out millions of dollars on the area and keeps a licence to mine there in the future. Concession maps show that De Beers owns concessions on a small section of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but BHP Billiton and other mining companies own a majority of concessions.
The rights organisation Survival International has been conducting a high profile campaign in the US, and has also called for a boycott of De Beers.
It has been joined by international models who have rejected working for De Beers.
The controversy has focused on the eviction of the last remaining Gana and Gwi Bushmen and Bakgalagadi from their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The Botswana government and De Beers both deny that diamonds have anything to do with the evictions but government officials confirmed this as the cause and Mogae told BBC television this month that in every case where diamonds could be mined he would evict residents.
There are suspicions that the government has been watching the case of the Nama people in South Africa, who were decades back moved away from their land near the Orange River and who have now won large compensation payments from the companies involved in mining diamonds there.
Botswana ended provision of water, food, and health services to the Bushmen under the premise that governmental costs had grown too expensive. The Bushmen sued the government in April 2002 and on August 2 Botswana's High Court is to hear whether or not diamond mining exists in the region.
The boycott campaign was given a boost by the expulsion of an Australian academic who criticised Mogae over his policies and the alleged lack of democracy in the country. He lost his appeal on July 27 against the deportation order.
Kenneth Good had written a research paper arguing that the system for presidential succession was undemocratic. Mogae has said he plans to step down in 2008 and hand over power to his hand-picked successor Ian Khama, one year before the presidential election.
In the evictions case the judges are not friendly to the Bushmen. Yet even though they expect to lose here, but if the case goes to appeal, the judges will be drawn from other Commonwealth countries, and the Bushmen are confident of winning. The Botswana government is planning to change the clause in the constitution which protects areas like the CKGR. There are Bushmen in many of the surrounding countries, but the CKGR group is the most viable and independent group of all.
Interest in the situation of the Botswana Bushmen has been heightened by the decision of the UN to send a special rapporteur to South Africa to to assess the condition of the Khoisan communities there. The SA government is seeking to reverse the systematic marginalisation of the Khoisan communities, and this has sharpened the contrast with Botswana.
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03 Août 2005 à 12:27 dans
- English
