The Democratic Alliance has urged President Thabo Mbeki to push for a watchdog organisation in the African Union to monitor the compliance of diamond-producing African countries with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
The Kimberley Process was created in South Africa in May 2000 and launched on January 1 this year in response to the global outcry over the trade in conflict diamonds, or ”blood diamonds,” mined in war zones.
DA minerals and energy representative Ian Davidson said on Wednesday: ”Consumer outrage about these stones, which are indistinguishable
from ordinary diamonds, threatens the entire multi-billion dollar world diamond market and the South African diamond industry.”
The Kimberley Process does not yet provide for an independent monitoring mechanism, which worried many human rights organisations, Davidson said in a statement.
There were especially strong concerns about countries such as Zimbabwe that wanted to join the Kimberley Process, but were still trading in diamonds from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, a United Nations panel issued a report that warned that conflict diamonds from the DRC might be passing through South Africa and other African states.
Davidson said the South African chairman of the Kimberley Process, Abbey Chikane, had observed that most countries were eager to follow the guidelines, but some ”lacked the legal or administrative mechanisms to do so.”
”He has also conceded that some countries already appear to be failing to comply with the Kimberley Process regulations.”
South Africa, as chair of both the Kimberley Process and the African Union, was in a unique position to exercise strong leadership and make a positive impact.
”First of all, South Africa should lead by example. We should strengthen our own monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that conflict diamonds do not enter the country.”
Secondly, South Africa should push for the creation of an independent watchdog institution under the aegis of the AU that would ensure the compliance of diamond-producing African countries with the Kimberley Process, Davidson said.
Under the Kimberley Process, any diamond entering or leaving a country has to be transported in a sealed container and accompanied by a certificate of origin, issued by the relevant government. – Sapa