South African Diamond Cutters, Polishers Need Training

Mining Weekly reported that Ernie Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, believes that the fact that there are now only 600 diamond polishers in South Africa — down from 4,500 two decades ago — indicates that the country’s diamond-cutting and -polishing industry is not in a good place. He believes people working in those industries need more training.

As quoted in the market news:

‘The relationship between government and industry needs to be developed more. A major factor inhibiting growth and causing the industry to shrink is the lack of consultation from both parties,’ he says, adding that industry and government need to identify factors that should be dealt with on a multilateral level.

‘The labour force needs to be trained to acceptable global standards, which are currently very high. We have to embark on sustainable training strategies for diamond partners – not short-term solutions that have no real impact.

‘The constraints, the exchange-control regulations, the supply of rough diamonds and the challenges in the operating environment need to be identified and addressed accordingly,’ he says.

Click here to read the full Mining Weekly report.