The opening of the Ghaghoo diamond mine, located in Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), that took place this week was not only a significant milestone for the mine’s owner Gem Diamonds, but also for the country along its diamond journey.
The mine has been in the making for a long time, having endured a high-profile campaign against its development, an ownership change and a name change. While the mine remains Botswana’s most controversial diamond project, the government is hoping to have put all the controversy aside as Ghaghoo launches commercial production.
The controversy surrounds the Kalahari Bushmen, also known as the Basarwa, which tribal rights advocate Survival International claims were illegally evicted from the CKGR in 1997, 2002 and 2005, to make way for the mine. Both the government and De Beers, which at the time owned the then-called Gopé mine, have repeatedly denied the claim.
Preempting this week’s opening, Survival International again issued a statement calling on the government to adhere to a 2006 court ruling restoring the Bushmen’s right to live and hunt in the reserve. Rachel Stenham, a campaigner for the group, stressed that Survival International, and more importantly the Bushmen, are not necessarily against the mine development, as long as it doesn’t encroach on the Bushmen’s right to live on their ancestral land. The two can coexist, Stenham stressed, and therefore, if anything, they support the development for the potential employment opportunities that may arise from the project.
Rather, the campaign essentially takes aim at conservation issues, calling for a boycott of Botswana tourism. The group asserts that the government shouldn’t be seen to be conserving wildlife if the indigenous people of the area are not allowed to live freely in their natural habitat.
In November, a government spokesperson told Rapaport News that the government has in fact granted the Bushmen unrestricted access to the reserve in accordance with the 2006 judgment. Stenham argued that access has been limited to fewer than 200 individuals, while most of the community has to apply for monthly permits to gain admission.
In today’s context, the Ghaghoo diamond mine seems caught in the middle of the back and forth. Since acquiring the project from De Beers in 2011, Gem Diamonds has been careful to cover its bases, fully aware of previous campaigns against De Beers regarding the mine that brought high profile international attention to the Bushmen’s plight. In a statement this week, Gem Diamonds stressed that it undertook a series of extensive studies and assessments relating to the environment, local communities and broader social impacts of the mine to ensure that it operates according to the strictest international standards.
Importantly, the company expects to employ around 250 people at the mine once Phase 1 production is achieved early next year, and the Bushmen are hoping they will be among the first to be offered a job. A Gem Diamonds spokesperson told Rapaport News via email that currently about 23 percent of the work force is made up of locals from the project’s affected communities.
While Survival International implied that the verdict is still out regarding the extent to which those employment opportunities will grow, it currently takes no issue with Gem Diamonds. Rather, the group’s call is aimed at the government to abide by its laws.
For its part, the government’s response does tend to be a bit skittish and it inclines to view Survival International’s strategy as reactionary and opportunistic – a claim which also might have some credence. Typically, the government’s talking points stress that the country’s natural resources belong to Botswana for the benefit of the whole nation, and it has the right to utilize those resources as it sees fit – a point that, it seems, no one is really disputing.
In its public relations efforts, the government might be better served to emphasize its own effective engagement with the Bushmen, or actually engage more effectively with the Bushmen – whichever is in fact required. Either way, the persistent resurfacing of its relationship with the Bushmen means there are questions that need to be answered.
However, amid the dispute between tribal campaigners and the government, it is hoped that the Ghaghoo mine can now contribute to Botswana’s positive diamond narrative.
The project certainly has the potential to do so as it represents Botswana’s first underground mine, and is one of only two producing mines operating in the country outside of the De Beers framework – the other being Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe mine. Ghaghoo has a resource of 20.53 million carats and an in-situ value of $4.9 billion, according to Gem Diamonds’ website. The company anticipates to ramp up to production of around 220,000 carats a year during its 25-year mining license.
For now, government revenue from the mine appears to be somewhat limited as it seems Gem Diamonds will initially not be required to sell its rough diamonds in Botswana, or ensure that a portion of goods are manufactured locally – as De Beers does. Goods will be viewed in Gaborone and Antwerp and sold by tender in Antwerp, with the first sale scheduled for December 2014.
That all may change as Botswana develops its diamond hub program and seeks to raise the level of activity in the country’s non-mining diamond sector. Gem Diamonds explained that while it has an arrangement with the government to sell its goods in Antwerp for the next few years, it may be likely that Ghaghoo production will be sold in Gaborone in the future.
Therefore, the immediate benefit of the mine to Botswana revolves around the economic activity associated with Ghaghoo’s development, and the continued engagement with the affected communities near the mine.
Gem Diamonds said it collaborated with the non-government organization VOX to assist in providing local communities with access to water. The company added that it has established a community trust that funds have been allocated toward to commission various community projects.
More such initiatives can only help improve Botswana’s narrative about the Kalahari Bushmen. Certainly, the more the Bushmen are involved at Ghaghoo, the stronger the government’s response regarding its relationship with the community.
To be fair, it does appear that Survival International used the mine’s opening to garner interest in its cause. This editorial may be testament to its success. Still, sustained and meaningful engagement – by both the government and Gem Diamonds – with the Bushmen community in the Ghaghoo mine should effectively distance the mine from the dispute once and for all. By doing so, it would help rewrite what has, until now, been a fairly controversial chapter in Botswana’s developing diamond story.
