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Showing posts from September, 2025

Botswana’s Diamond Dilemma: The Impact of Lab-Grown Diamonds and De Beers’ Sale on the SADC Region

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       Since its inception in 1888, De Beers has maintained a stronghold on the international diamond market through a cartel-like system that controlled supply and kept prices elevated. The longstanding collaboration between De Beers and the Botswana government, through their equally owned venture Debswana, has been a benchmark for resource management and fair distribution of benefits in Africa (Wyk, 2010). However, Anglo American's 2024 announcement to withdraw from De Beers signifies a pivotal change. Experts believe that Anglo's move was influenced by decreasing profit margins and increasing competition from synthetic diamond producers, whose market share expanded from 1% in 2015 to over 15% by 2023 (Shah, 2025; Bain & Company, 2023). This shift prompts concerns about the viability of Botswana's diamond-driven economic model, especially since De Beers has traditionally overseen not just mining but also the marketing, branding, and integration of Botswana'...
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Cash, Cars, Captives: SA’s Underworld Exposed (2020-2025)

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  This analyses the period April 2020 to March 2025 , a time of significant social, economic, and security shifts. 1. Introduction — Why This Matters South Africa’s streets are a living, breathing organism. Every intersection, freeway, and suburban alley tells a story of risk, survival, and ingenuity — from the petty thief to the sophisticated gang running multi-million-rand operations. Over the past five years, three crime types — CIT heists, hijackings, and kidnappings — have defined the underworld’s pulse, shaping daily life, business operations, and law enforcement strategies (ISS Africa, 2023; SAPS, 2024). These crimes matter because they aren’t isolated. A hijacking today can finance a kidnapping tomorrow; a stolen van may be used in a CIT heist next week. The interconnectivity of these crimes has created a criminal economy , a shadow network operating parallel to legitimate society (Businesstech, 2024). Why read this booklet? Because understanding the who, how, and why beh...
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