South Africa
Government Pushes For Development Of Diamond Industry
Panafrican News Agency
December 21, 1999
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - A South African government inquiry into the country's diamond
industry is urging the regulatory Diamond Board to do more to help develop the local industry.
"The general feeling is that the Diamond Board should play a more active role in creating growth and
development of the South African diamond industry," the Department of Minerals and Energy said in
a report released Monday.
The report, which was commissioned by the department as a precursor to overhauling the 1986
Diamond Act, said the role of the industry watchdog in controlling diamond imports needed to be
assessed as well as the composition and funding of the body.
The mandate of the task team was to summarise and analyse the 80 written and verbal submissions
received by the commission.
Subjects covered were, inter alia, government regulation of and involvement/intervention in the
industry, such as the provisions of the Diamonds Act, the role of the South African Diamond Board,
illegal diamond buying provisions, and numerous issues regarding the possession, trade in, the
processing and the export of diamonds.
The report is available on the department's web site at the following address: dme.gov.za
dme.gov.za development branch/mine economics.
PHIL
(spelling mistakes are not mine.) |
