• Portfolio Committee Study tour in November 2004

• Follow up visit in January 2005 on Women Empowerment issues

• Presentation in March 2005 by the Alexkor Management

• The presentation addresses Land claims and women issues in Alexkor as per Pcreport

• The restitution claim process in the Land Claims Court started in April 2005 , will resume around October 2005.

• New legal team appointed . The team is led by Advocate Grobler SC, the lead defense team member of the Government defense team.

Alexkor seconds a staff member to work with the women"s groups to address their specific concerns and improve their technical capacity

Alexkor’s mineral resources manager has been given the responsibility to engage with the women’s group to address their specific needs and provide the necessary technical support to the project. The Company secretary and the CEO have also taken a direct interest and interact regularly with the group

Alexkor takes responsibility to ensure that all stakeholders understand the contract

In addition to the mineral resource manager who is allocated to the project, the CEO has held a number of meetings with all the affected parties explaining the contract , the work that needs to be done, the requirement (technical and financial ) and responsibilities of delivering on the contract as well as how to optimise returns

Audited financial statements from sub-contractors who worked on the mine be made available as soon as possible

The contractor referred to in this specific case left Alexkor and the company does not have immediate access to their financial records. Alexkor has made all reasonable attempts to get this information without success . The company does not have legal powers to right of access and will enforce them . In future , the engagement with the sub-contractor will make it compulsory and a specific requirement that audited financial statements be supplied to the company so that the women’ group could have access to the information.

A clear business plan is developed through proper consultation with all stakeholders. Consideration should be give to ensuring that the women’s group gain financially from the project by a set amount targeted for each financial year.

It is a requirement that the sub-contractor should submit a business plan detailing how the deposit will be exploited , their technical and financial capacity , their human resource strength and how the economic benefits will accrue to the women’s group. A targeted return will be specified in the contract.

A sub-contractor be identified who will continue with the mining as the contract is still valid for three years . The powers of the sub-contractor be limited and clearly defined.

Alexkor with the full consultation of the women’s group went through a process of identifying an appropriate sub-contractor to work with the women’s group and provide the required mining skills. A mining contractor, Kuyanda was recommended as the best sub-contractor. After a lengthy negotiation process with Alexkor’s assistance as and when required and asked, the parties failed to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement.

Following this, another sub-contractor was identified through the full participation of all the stakeholders. The mandate of Gully Diamonds was defined and agreed by all concerned. Gully Diamonds would undertake exploration to confirm the diamond resources and reserves that would form the basis for the development of a mining plan Following the completion of the exploration work, the women's group would be free to appoint a mining sub-contractor Alexkor has provided all the necessary advice and guidance to the women's group to assist with their negotiations. To-date the women's group has not finalised and agreement with Gully Diamonds.

Where appropriate the provincial government should play a role

The provincial government recently visited Alexkor and had interactions other local communities

The public representatives in the area should play a role

Public representatives were present at all the meetings mentioned above

The end