Small Scale Artisanal Diamond Mining and Rural Livelihood Diversification in Lesotho by Esther L Makhetha A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PhD Humanities in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES SUPERVISOR: Dr Detlev Krige October 2016 © University of Pretoria Abstract This thesis examines how individuals and households of Kao and Liqhobong villages in Lesotho responded to economic challenges resulting from, amongst other factors, the implementation of structural adjustment policies; a decline in work opportunities for Basotho migrants in South Africa; the wider collapse of the regional mining complex, and; continued failure in developing agricultural production. More specifically, the study focuses on individuals and households implicated in unrecognised and unlicensed artisanal diamond mining and who use such mining, in the midst of these economic challenges, as a supplementary means of income or livelihood diversification. Artisanal diamond mining in Lesotho is a livelihood for rural households that is masked by the dominant representation of Lesotho as a labour reserve. Making use of the ‘moral economy’ and ‘human economy’ approaches, the thesis explores how artisanal miners in Lesotho engage in diamond digging and selling. It also investigates the constraints they face in a sector that was heavily regulated historically and remains so in post-independence Lesotho, a state which is itself constrained by a regional and global context that makes it difficult to raise the living standards of its citizens. In order to understand the responses of individuals and households in the implicated villages, the thesis combines an historical with an ethnographic approach. As such it examines the conditions artisanal diamond miners have operated under from the 1950s to 2014 when fieldwork for this thesis was conducted. It looks at how artisanal miners and artisanal mining collectives with their own moral economies negotiated the contestation over natural resources with the Lesotho state and international commercial mining companies. In doing so it investigates how the artisanal miners positioned themselves in relation to the law; claims to ownership over land; the international market for diamonds; and society. As an economic activity artisanal diamond mining is viewed in relation to the larger social processes in which it is embedded and from which it derives meaning. As such this thesis tells a story of conflict, violence and resistance; a story that remains pertinent, given the current debates about economic democracy in contexts of natural resource wealth. In my analysis, I pay particular attention to the role of women in ASM in Lesotho. 2 © University of Pretoria Key words: Artisanal Diamond Mining, Lesotho, Rural Livelihoods Diversification, Gender, Human Economy, Moral Economy, Economic Democracy, Development, Ethnography, Anthropology at Home. 3 © University of Pretoria Acknowledgements I would like to thank my PhD supervisor, Dr Detlev Krige, for his encouragement, guidance and support in writing this thesis. Dr Krige was patient with me, a new arrival in the field of Anthropology and Development Studies, having graduated in the natural sciences. I am also thankful to the Human Economy Programme which has supported my study, financially and in other ways, through the University of Pretoria and the Mellon Foundation. I would like to extend my gratitude to the two directors of the Human Economy Programme, Prof. Keith Hart and Prof. John Sharp who guided and inspired me in the completion of my PhD studies. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the artisanal diamond miners and villagers of Kao and Liqhobong who participated in this study and also allowed me into their homes. I also wish to thank everyone I encountered during my fieldwork in the highlands of Lesotho, Butha-Buthe District and the capital, Maseru. I am grateful to my friends and colleagues, Prof Ngwane, Prof Vasavi, Bitso, Molefi Thobileng, Sean, Booker, Busani, Numvi, Jose, Vito, Marina, Mamofana, Celie, and Thembi, for your support and reading my drafts. I thank my family members for their support and I dedicate this thesis to my sister Mpho, my nephews and nieces Ramoloi, Marethabile, Pakiso, Mantai, Puleng, Makie and Tsebo, and ausi Mots’elisi. Thanks for the love and encouragement you have shown me in the completion of this thesis. Gift, your support and encouragement are highly appreciated – I will never forget you. May the good God richly bless you all for the contributions you have made to this research. 4 © University of Pretoria List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ABC All-Basotho Convention AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act ANC African National Congress ASM Artisanal and Small-scale Mining BAFED Basutoland Factory and Estate Development Corporation BCP Basutoland/Basotho Congress Party BDC Basutoland Diamond Corporation BNLS Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland BNP Basutoland/Basotho National Party CBL Central Bank of Lesotho CDP Compulsory Deferred Pay CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CUC Custom Union Convention DC Democratic Congress EU European Union FDI Foreign Direct Investment GDP Gross Domestic Product GOL Government of Lesotho IEC Independent Electoral Commission ILO International Labour Organisation 5 © University of Pretoria IMF International Monetary Fund KDM Kao Diamond Mine KP Kimberley Process KPCS Kimberley Process Certification Scheme LAC Lesotho Airways Corporation LCD Lesotho Congress for Democracy LFM Lesotho Flour Mills LHWP Lesotho Highlands Water Project LLA Lesotho Liberation Army LNDC Lesotho National Development Corporation LDMC Liqhobong Diamond Mine Cooperative MFP Marematlou Freedom Party PEMS Paris Evangelical Missionary Society PPP Public-Private Sector Participation PWV Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging SACU Southern African Customs Union SADC Southern African Development Community SAP Structural Adjustment Programme SARW Southern African Resource Watch SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency TRC Transformation Resource Centre 6 © University of Pretoria UK United Kingdom UN United Nations US United States USAID United States Agency for International Development WB World Bank WDC World Diamond Council WTO World Trade Organisation WWII World War II 7 © University of Pretoria LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODS ............................... 12 1.1 Background and problem statement ............................................................... 12 1.2 Research methodology ................................................................................... 26 1.3 Ethical considerations ..................................................................................... 34 1.4 Thesis outline .................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ........... 38 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 38 2.2 Literature review ............................................................................................. 38 2.3 Theoretical framework..................................................................................... 55 2.4 Summary ......................................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER 3: LESOTHO POLITICAL ECONOMY: INDEPENDENCE TO THE PRESENT ................................................................................................................ 62 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 62 3.2 Macro-economic considerations ..................................................................... 62 3.3 Independence, transition and authoritarianism: BNP rule, 1966-1986 ............ 73 3.4 Neoliberalism and ‘democracy’ after independence (1986-2012) ................... 80 3.5 Summary ......................................................................................................... 87 CHAPTER 4: LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION IN KAO AND LIQHOBONG HOUSEHOLDS ........................................................................................................ 88 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 88 4.2 Centres of contemporary mining ..................................................................... 88 4.3 Sources of income ................................ .......................................................... 98 4.4 Summary ....................................................................................................... 115 CHAPTER 5: KAO AND LIQHOBONG: CENTRES OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISANAL DIAMOND MINING ........................................................................... 116 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 116 5.2 Role of artisanal diamond mining in local economies of Kao and Liqhobong 118 5.3 Role of commercial diamond mining in local economies ............................... 120 5.4 Informal and unlicensed artisanal diamond