Reskol Diamond Mining (PTY) LTD, mining in Kolo, Lesotho, 1991-2022

Abstract

The role of private capital in natural resource extraction and economic development in the Global South has attracted significant debate among scholars and development practitioners. In this light, there has also been debate surrounding the Reskol Diamond Mining in Kolo-Mafeteng in Lesotho, due to worries about job possibilities, environmental degradation, and insufficient corporate social responsibility initiatives. There are also problems with the company's compensation and relocation of impacted homes, in addition to the exhumation of ancestral graves. Against this background, this dissertation critically examines the history of diamond mining in Lesotho, using the case of Reskol Diamond Mining in Kolo-Mafeteng in Lesotho, within the context of development or dispossession. Using historical records, legal sources, life histories, and secondary sources, this dissertation examines the nature of the government collusion in the mining of diamonds and its impact on the livelihoods of local communities over time. In this way, it draws from and seeks to contribute to ongoing scholarly debates on resource curse and nationalism against the background of the question of development or dispossession. Although the discovery of diamonds was initially viewed as an economic blessing for Basotho, the activities of Reskol Mining Company proved otherwise, due to the accompanying dispossession, largely manifested in environmentalchallenges, lack of Corporate Social Responsibility, exhumation of the dead, and absence of economic empowerment, among others. Therefore, the dissertation examined Reskol's failures, which are often denied or concealed even by the government who always acted in collusion with the company. It is expected that the findings of this dissertation will bring about further research into accountability and transparency in natural resource management in Lesotho and other African countries.