De Beers under fire over dumps and deaths

Diamond giant De Beers deliberately misled the government about the task of repairing its enormous mine dumps along the West Coast, estimated to cover an area the size of 2000 football fields.

So says a report submitted to government this week.

It also says De Beers withheld vital information and downplayed possibly "devastating consequences" related to the more than 1025ha of fenced-off dumps.

The report was co-authored by two environmental watchdog groups, Conservation South Africa and The Bench Marks Foundation.

Its release coincides with the death this week of two illegal miners in a makeshift tunnel at the company's Namaqualand mine.

Community leaders say the deaths could have been avoided had De Beers listened to warnings.

De Beers is selling its Namaqualand mine, despite fierce opposition from local communities who claim they were not consulted. They also want the company to "clean up its mess".

In terms of the sale, De Beers has to obtain approval for an amended environmental management plan. But the plan fails to disclose the final "environmental liability" (the cost of fixing the mining mess) and which would be passed on to the new owner.

De Beers had previously said the figures stand at R150-million but the real figure, according to the report, is closer to R738-million.

De Beers stopped mining in Namaqualand last year, due largely to the impact of the global recession on the diamond trade.

But De Beers spokesman Tom Tweedy denied any wrongdoing by the company.

He said the company had provided financial details of their environmental liability to government and consulted widely with affected communities. Tweedy said the company was awaiting details from the authorities on the illegal miners' deaths.