De Beers is nothing if not secretive. Here I witnessed in De Beers's mines horrific conditions with wages paid at one third of the official union minimum and in very hazardous conditions. I also witnessed considerable natural resources being hidden from the SA Government. I went also to India and witnessed children as young as 8 cutting and polishing diamonds in workshops mostly supplied by De Beers through its favored merchants, working in what is defined as a form of slavery. The wages were slashed this year from 40c to 25c a diamond causing riots.
Workers get one dollar a day for cutting romantic gems.
De Beers tried to stop my film in the Canadian NW Territories diamond fields - but the Sierra Club and the Unions had it happen. I was also the keynote speaker at the first post apartheid conference of Southern African mineworkers where I was funded by the World Council of Churches. I have been told that a major reason for some of my difficulties is the fear publishers have of a certain Maurice Tempelsman, the former companion of Jackie Onassis who in 1998 was reported to be developing a romantic relationship with Secretary of State Albright. He is a leading international diamond merchant of unique power and influence - often he has helped shaped US foreign policy in directions that favour De Beers. I have extensively researched his work.