A court in Belgium is set to rule this week whether Zimbabwe diamonds which were due to be auctioned there, will be attached to compensate a group of Dutch farmers whose properties were seized by the government.
It is the second claim against the $45 million worth of diamonds. Last week, South Africa’s Amari Platinum lost its court bid to seize the same diamonds. They claim Zimbabwe owes it money for lost revenue over a cancelled mining contract.
The court case has revived hope among thousands of white farmers who await compensation as Zimbabwe continues to be haunted by its liabilities from its land reform programme.
This has been a very interesting case to watch. The issue revolves around whether diamonds from the Zim government can be seized while in Antwerp to compensate white farmers whose land was basically stolen from the Zim government.
This also reminds me of an interview in JCK with the WDC President, Edward Asscher who noted:
If not all the same centers use the same technological know-how, you will have false competition, and diamonds will go to the weakest point.
The danger is that if Antwerp is seen as a more vigilant transit point, supply chains could permanently reroute through Dubai. Given that Zim hasn’t had the best tenders in Antwerp, this could be more fuel to the fire.