The scorching sun set over the Limpopo bush as the Millennium Diamond Transport bus carried workers home from De Beers’ Venetia mine in South Africa. Contract laborer Innocent Ali Mashaba, who separates waste for recycling, faces uncertainty over his one‑year contract after the company announced a two‑year production halt. “I’m always stressed, every day,” he said, noting that his decade of work helps pay school for his six children.
Financial pressures have accelerated the crisis. De Beers is now valued at $2.3bn, down from a near‑$13bn peak in 2011 when Anglo American took majority control. Underlying earnings fell from $1.4bn in 2016 to a half‑billion‑dollar loss last year, and the group has been for sale since 2024 as Anglo refocuses on core commodities such as copper.
The downturn stems from shifting consumer habits and the rise of lab‑grown stones, which are cheaper to produce. Former executives blame Anglo for cutting advertising and launching a now‑discontinued De Beers lab‑grown unit. “Anglo has destroyed a very good business,” one insider said, adding that De Beers “was caught asleep at the wheel” in storytelling to younger buyers. Retailer Tobias Kormind of 77 Diamonds notes that people remain “emotional creatures that very much respond to stories” and that effective marketing could restore “some of the magic.”
In Botswana, where the government holds a 15% stake, workers and politicians remain hopeful. A shopowner opposite Venetia has seen business decline to a trickle, lamenting, “Now, you can’t even compare.”
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing