Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - December 8, 2002
Former president Nelson Mandela has praised the efforts of business, and the mining industry in particular, in fighting poverty and HIV/Aids.
"Poverty is the greatest assault on human dignity and unemployment makes it worse," Mandela said at the opening of diamond giant De Beers' R3.2-million Diamond Hub at its Premier Mine near Pretoria on Wednesday.
He said the mining industry "is playing its part, employing large numbers of people who would otherwise be jobless".
Mandela said poverty was made worse by HIV/Aids and other diseases such as tuberculosis, cancer and malaria, which he said were "serious challenges to humanity".
He added: "I am happy that mining houses such as De Beers and Anglo American are doing their bit to ensure that workers infected with HIV and Aids have access to treatment."
Both companies and their subsidiaries have extensive HIV/Aids awareness and education programmes in place and are also rolling-out antiretroviral therapies to infected workers.
The De Beers Diamond Hub houses two privately owned retail diamond jewellery outlets, a diamond cutting and polishing factory that includes a training facility, and a jewellery design school.
"The opening of this facility makes Premier Mine the only place in the world, as far as we know, where diamonds are mined, cut and polished, and incorporated into locally designed jewellery," said De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer.
About 150 unemployed people, most of them women, have been trained to cut and polish diamonds at the factory. The jewellery school aims to provide young people from the local community with basic skills in jewellery design and manufacture.
The Hub forms part of the Cullinan tourism route, which Premier general manager Hans Gastrow said attracted about 20 000 visitors a year. Its opening also marked the start of Premier Mine's centenary, which will be celebrated with various events next year.
"There are few mines that live for 100 years . . . but [with the Hub] this is still a young mine with a prosperous future ahead of it," Oppenheimer said.
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