S tr a t egy and s tructur e VIEW S FROM C OMMODITY SECT OR LEADERSHIP FORUMS C ONTINUED De Beers V enetia Diamonds ha v e a cry s talline s tructur e tha t mak es them har der than an y other f orm in na tur e T he y ar e not only popular in je w ellery but also desir able in hight ech cutting grinding and polishing t ools DIAMOND LEADERSHIP FORUM Ov ervie w and appr oach South A frica is the w orld s eighth bigges t diamond pr oduc er South A frican diamond pr oduction in 20 19 declined subs tantially b y 26 t o 7 2 million car a ts with t otal sales of R133 billion Emplo yment in the indus try declined b y 4 t o 15 7 28 people T he Diamond L eadership F orum DLF members include De Beers P etr a Diamonds T r ans He x and the South A frican Diamond Pr oduc ers Or ganisa tion r epr esenting man y smaller pr oduc ers Challenges and opportunities T he is sues c onsider ed b y the DLF in 20 18 persis t ed in 20 19 K e y among them ar e the f ollo wing Mining Chart er 20 18 no w applies t o the diamond sect or which is r egula t ed b y the Diamonds A ct 2006 If implement ed this is lik ely t o ha v e an adv erse impact on diamond pr oduc ers thr ea t ening their ability t o meet their r equir ed gr os s local sales tar get of 15 medium pr oduc ers and 40 lar ge pr oduc ers Illegal mining activities c ontinue t o plague the sect or with signifcant saf ety en vir onmental and social c onc erns f or both the miners and c ommunities Illegal mining activities undermine South A frica s s ta tus under the Kimberle y Pr oc es s A ctivities and f ocus T he DLF s f ocus c ontinued t o be on Es tablishing and e x ecuting a c oor dina t ed s tak eholder engagement plan f or the diamond mining indus try t o f acilita t e a bett er polic y legisla tiv e and oper a ting en vir onment f or the sect or C onsidering int erv entions tha t the diamond mining indus try ma y implement as a c ollectiv e and w orking c ollabor a tiv ely with other k e y s tak eholders t o cr ea t e a clima t e c onduciv e f or gr o wth de v elopment and tr ansf orma tion It is not ed tha t the r e vie w applica tion of the Mining Chart er 20 18 b y the Miner als C ouncil dir ectly addr es ses the Mining Chart er is sue and it is hoped tha t a sa tisf act ory out c ome is arriv ed a t Nonetheles s a mor e holis tic discus sion r egar ding the gr o wth tr ansf orma tion and c ompetitiv enes s of the do wns tr eam sect or is r equir ed and ef orts ha v e been made t o es tablish this engagement with the DMRE A clear r egula t ory fr ame w ork f or artisanal miners needs t o be de v eloped and implement ed along with incr eased pr osecution of those in v olv ed in illegal mining Discus sions with both the DMRE and the security authorities ar e ongoing P etr a Diamonds Finsch P age 44