De Beers denies claims of apartheid corruption

MINING giant De Beers has vehemently denied claims made in a South African corruption report that it acted illegally during the apartheid era.

De Beers is cited in a controversial report on corruption in South Africa between 1976 and 1994 as having evaded millions in taxes from mining activities in Namibia. In a statement issued by De Beers Namibia Country Manager Daniel Kali yesterday, he said all allegations levelled against the company both in South Africa and Namibia that it had acted improperly in the export of its products, were false.”We would like to put on record that De Beers is a reputable African company and as such obviously subject to the normal rigours of scrutiny by the relevant taxation authorities and has complied with its tax obligations as any reputable company would,” said Kali.In the report ‘Apartheid Grand Corruption – assessing the scales of crime in South Africa from 1976-1994’ released in South Africa by its Anti-Corruption Forum, De Beers is said to have evaded tax worth US$171 million in 1983 and allegedly cheated its Namibian holding company out of profits by exporting the diamonds through its subsidiaries, which all profited from the export.”It is simply wrong and unfair, irrespective how small or large a company is, to level such serious and somewhat historical accusations at someone without verifying the validity of the source material,” said Kali in response.De Beers said although allegations of tax evasion were investigated by the Thirion commission in the 1980s, De Beers found the allegations lacked validity and there was no case for the company to defend.Last year, De Beers was again prompted to defend claims of tax evasion, after allegations surfaced that it had acted improperly in the export of diamonds from South Africa in 1994.The report on apartheid-era corruption singles out South African government leaders and businessmen not only for having perpetuated corruption in that country, but extending their activities to Namibia while the country was under its rule.Namibia’s wildlife was slaughtered by members of the former South African Defence Force to fuel the war through the illicit trading of rhino horns and ivory.The clandestinely supported operations of the South African Chemical and Biological Warfare unit also extended to Namibia, where Swapo fighters were said to have been drugged and thrown into the sea by its unit head Wouter Basson.In a statement issued by De Beers Namibia Country Manager Daniel Kali yesterday, he said all allegations levelled against the company both in South Africa and Namibia that it had acted improperly in the export of its products, were false.”We would like to put on record that De Beers is a reputable African company and as such obviously subject to the normal rigours of scrutiny by the relevant taxation authorities and has complied with its tax obligations as any reputable company would,” said Kali.In the report ‘Apartheid Grand Corruption – assessing the scales of crime in South Africa from 1976-1994’ released in South Africa by its Anti-Corruption Forum, De Beers is said to have evaded tax worth US$171 million in 1983 and allegedly cheated its Namibian holding company out of profits by exporting the diamonds through its subsidiaries, which all profited from the export.”It is simply wrong and unfair, irrespective how small or large a company is, to level such serious and somewhat historical accusations at someone without verifying the validity of the source material,” said Kali in response.De Beers said although allegations of tax evasion were investigated by the Thirion commission in the 1980s, De Beers found the allegations lacked validity and there was no case for the company to defend.Last year, De Beers was again prompted to defend claims of tax evasion, after allegations surfaced that it had acted improperly in the export of diamonds from South Africa in 1994.The report on apartheid-era corruption singles out South African government leaders and businessmen not only for having perpetuated corruption in that country, but extending their activities to Namibia while the country was under its rule.Namibia’s wildlife was slaughtered by members of the former South African Defence Force to fuel the war through the illicit trading of rhino horns and ivory.The clandestinely supported operations of the South African Chemical and Biological Warfare unit also extended to Namibia, where Swapo fighters were said to have been drugged and thrown into the sea by its unit head Wouter Basson.