While the Scorpions appear to be interested in the New Diamond Corporation’s operations in Schmidtsdrift, the government is also scrutinising the company’s deal with diamond giant De Beers.
The Scorpions seized documents relating to empowerment group New Diamond Corporation’s (NDC) controversial mining operation in Schmidtsdrift, near Kimberley, during a raid on Department of Minerals and Energy regional offices this week.
The department’s national Director General, Sandile Nogxina, said the raids on offices in Kimberley and Klerksdorp on Monday were to probe allegations that mining permits were being irregularly issued. The Scorpions conducted the raids at the department’s invitation.
The Scorpions would not give details of the probe. It is understood that they are interested in the controversy surrounding the NDC operation in Schmidtsdrift, first reported by the Mail & Guardian in March.
The NDC, headed by prominent black businessmen, including Tiego Moseneke, is locked in a dispute with members of the Schmidtsdrift community over the company’s open-cast diamond mining operations in the area. Some in the community maintain that it acquired mining permits “illegally” – a claim the company denies.
A well-placed department official in Kimberley this week confirmed that among the many files seized by Scorpion investigators were two relating to the NDC’s Schmidtsdrift operation. It is not clear why the Scorpions seized the documents and whether the raid was prompted by allegations made by the Schmidtsdrift community.
Moseneke said: “We have no reason to believe that the NDC is the subject of any attention at all. In the spirit of good governance, however, we would actively assist in any investigation intended to ensure the credibility of the permitting system.”
However, the M&G understands that some members of the Schmidtsdrift community have in the past approached the Scorpions through its lawyers, alleging corruption in the Kimberley office.
The M&G is in possession of a document Schmidtsdrift representatives submitted to the Scorpions. In it, these members of the community claim that “certain members of the [minerals department] in the Northern Cape provincial government are collaborating with NDC and that they have financial interests in NDC”.
The document, also sent to the department’s Pretoria headquarters, alleges too that the NDC, which has been operating in Schmidtsdrift for two years, was given a permit to prospect and remove diamonds from three farms in the area “illegally”.
These members of the community say the NDC signed a joint-venture agreement with two members of the community’s Communal Property Association, a statutory body that represents them, without a community mandate. The NDC has dismissed this allegation.
Scorpions’s spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said the unit was investigating various allegations involving irregular mining permits in Kimberley and Klerksdorp, but could not release information on specific allegations.
Nogxina said his department has cut ties with the Kimberley and Klerksdorp offices to allow the investigation to proceed. Nogxina accompanied the Scorpions during the raid.
He said the government had been inundated with correspondence claiming corruption and bribery involving mining and prospecting permits in Kimberley and Klerksdorp.
“We handed everything over to the Scorpions to investigate and their raid on Monday was done with our backing,” he said.
“We do not tolerate corruption. The Scorpions will go through the files and check if there is evidence to support the allegations,” he said.