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Statement by the Kimberly Process Civil Society Coalition representatives in Zimbabwe on the visit to Marange diamond fields
Kimberly Process Civil Society Coalition
March 09, 2012

Acknowledging the gesture of good will made by the government of Zimbabwe to allow CSOs access to Marange Diamond fields in terms of the KP Administrative Decision on Marange of the 1st of November 2011;

Reaffirming that natural resources, especially minerals, belong to Zimbabwe and therefore should benefit Zimbabweans;

The KP Civil Society Coalition Representatives in Zimbabwe, having accessed the Marange Diamond Fields and relocated families on the 7th and 8th of March 2012 respectively, hereby note that:

• There is improved security in Marange diamonds fields especially on the following aspects; installation of physical security systems at mining sites that were visited (Marange Resources, Mbada, DMC) e.g. fencing of concessions, installations of cameras in the mine field, availability of private security guards and establishment of hands free infrastructure.
• Marange Resources has strong corporate social responsibility programmes delivered through its community shared values (CSV) plan. This serves as a good working model which other companies in the area should be encouraged to follow.
• The ownership model at Marange Resources of 100% control by the state may be in the best model to follow in promoting the best interest of the people of Zimbabwe.
• The diamond mining companies operating in the Marange Fields have constructed housing units and social service amenities for the some of the affected families. For example there is a new clinic, primary and secondary schools, water supply system in ARDA Transau.

However we noted with concern the following issues:

• The CSOs could not access mine level data and therefore could not establish the quantity and quality of diamonds produced. All mining companies visited claimed that this information is not available during the time of the visit. There is need to improve the issues of transparency and accountability on production data, revenues generated and allocation of mining rights.
• The absence of adequate data and information on the diamond resource in Marange is problematic. There is need for government to carry out comprehensive exploration and put in place legal, policy, and institutional and financial measures to address this.
• Diamond mining has disrupted the livelihoods and social fabric of the communities especially those families that are fenced inside concessions or on the verge of relocation in area such as Betera, Chiadzwa, Charamba, Chishingwi, Chipindiwe and Garamanowako villages. There is a lot of dust emissions as a result of industrial activities within the Marange Diamond field. This in conjuction with the poor road infrastructure can adversely cause serious respiratory diseases. CSOs raised concern with the possibility of water contamination for families emanating from the mining activities.
• On provision of security by state security agents, no observations were made on the issue of phased withdrawal of the military from the diamond fields.
• Relocated families in Arda Transau are yet to be allocated grazing and farming land and this has negative implication on their sources of income and livelihoods; they continue to live on food handouts mainly provided by mining companies.
• Due to time limitations, Civil Society did not manage to meet the relocated families in order to obtain first hand information regarding the living conditions. This will be pursued in the near future.

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