In an effort to drive transformation in the diamond sector, the De Beers Group yesterday announced that Molefi Letsiki Diamonds (MLD) would become its first majority black-owned sightholder, effective from January 1, 2023.
A sightholder is a company on the De Beers Global sightholder sales list of authorised bulk purchasers of rough diamonds.
De Beers Group sells its rough diamonds through two channels: global sightholder sales, and auctions.
In a statement, the diamond miner said Molefi Letsiki was an alumnus of the De Beers Enterprise Development Project for diamondbBeneficiators launched in 2016 to facilitate the growth and transformation of diamond beneficiation in South Africa.
According to the world’s biggest diamond producer by volume, Letsiki formed part of the first cohort of the Diamond Beneficiators Project and was a second-generation diamantaire, whose father worked as a diamond master cutter for over three decades.
“He established his diamond and custom-made jewellery manufacturing business in 2005, and 17 years later, Molefi Letsiki Diamonds is a global diamond dealer employing 15 people in its South African operation,” it said.
De Beers Group operations managing director Moses Madondo, said: “On behalf of De Beers, I wish to congratulate Molefi on this momentous achievement. It was our ultimate goal when we launched the Enterprise Development Project to have the project members become our sightholders.
“To witness this happen is truly incredible, and it speaks of the hard work that we have been doing, in partnership with the government to empower emerging cutting and polishing companies.”
De Beers said Letsiki was also the chairman of the South African Diamond Dealers Club, an executive committee member of The World Federation of Diamond Bourses, and one of the founding members of Young Diamantaires.
“He is also the co-founder and former president of the South African Young Diamond Beneficiators Guild, which aims to achieve increased diamond beneficiation of African-produced rough diamonds, and ambassador of World Diamond Council systems of warranties,” it said.
MLD had partnered with global diamond company Dali Diamond as a global distributor in the ground-breaking partnership.
Letsiki said: “I am overjoyed by the opportunity afforded to me by the De Beers Group. The progression of moving from a small diamond business to achieving sightholder status has long been an aspiration for Molefi Letsiki Diamonds.
De Beers said Letsiki’s elevation to sightholder status was a significant milestone not just for De Beers, but for the overall South African beneficiation diamond sector.
“In implementing sustainable beneficiation, De Beers is aligning its strategy to the government’s imperatives of sustainable growth and employment in the downstream diamond industry in South Africa,” the group said.
Beneficiation has been part of De Beers’s business model for many years, through the sale of rough diamonds to small and medium cutters and polishers, while also facilitating specialised training.
“The company has also established a diamond beneficiation academy in Kimberley in partnership with the Northern Cape government and the Shining Lights Awards competition, which has unrooted young and talented jewellery designers and manufacturers, some of whom have established jewellery businesses in South Africa,” De Beers said.
In November the De Beers Group announced the results of its sales cycle for 2022, noting an 11% decline compared with the previous cycle. The ninth sales cycle ran from October 31 to November 4 with sales reaching $450 million (R7.7 billion), a decline from the $508m achieved in the eighth cycle.
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