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Kimberley, 27 February 2013: The Diamond Trading Company South Africa, a De Beers Group Company, will be celebrating South African jewellery design talent in the city of diamonds.
The 2013/2014 Shining Lights Awards Diamond Design Competition is the 10th edition of its kind having been launched in 1996. The competition aims to encourage and develop South African jewellery design talent and create opportunities for skills development and job creation for South Africans.
Entrants to the 2013 Shining Light Awards competition drew their inspiration from the theme of the competition “Women of Africa - Your light shines”. They were asked to design jewellery concepts that honour the Women of Africa, celebrate and honour their strength, beauty, resilience, love, generosity, sufferance, joy, forgiveness, their will, spirit and courage.
Every two years, about 300 aspirant students and jewellery designers enter the competition and while there is on average 10 winners per competition, the benefit of all participants cannot be underestimated. The competition continues to grow from strength over the years with entries for this edition increasing to over 500, from 363 in the period 2010 – 2012, a 55% growth.
For the 2013/2014 competition, the company extended its search for talent in jewellery design to more towns and cities in South Africa, these being; Kimberley, in the Northern Cape and Rustenburg in the North West Province. The growth and success of the awards has been as a result of the formidable partnerships with De Beers’ clients, tertiary institutions and the South African jewellery design sector, who have been unwavering ambassadors of the Shining Light Awards Competition.
De Beers’ vision is to demonstrate to the world the wealth of design talent that exists in Southern Africa by creating a design platform, through which the creative artistry can be showcased using nature’s most remarkable and finest creation, the diamond.
Faried Sallie, Managing Director of the Diamond Trading Company South Africa, a De Beers Group Company commented; “South Africa has a great opportunity to grow jewellery design and manufacturing as a strategic focus area for beneficiation considering the talent and passion that we have in this country.
“This, we believe, can be achieved by our endeavour, and that of the South African industry at large, to further explore opportunities for partnership with those entities that are committed to growing this industry.”
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Notes
Beneficiation activities include:
Offering consistent and predictable supply to its clients for local manufacturing.
- Supporting the local cutting industry by offering a consistent and predictable level of supply, enabling the country’s downstream industry to maximise the efficiency of its operations in a secure supply environment. As a result, the downstream industry is able to invest with confidence in new capacity and marketing initiatives.
Promoting skills development
- During 2007, DTC South Africa started working with the government of the Northern Cape Province to develop a business case for the establishment of an International Diamond and Jewellery Academy in Kimberley.
The academy is aimed at providing accredited skills development in key areas such as rough diamond evaluation, cutting and polishing, polished grading, jewellery design, jewellery manufacturing through to marketing and retail. The establishment was officially launched in 2011.
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Ownership of De Beers: 85 percent Anglo American plc. group and 15 percent Republic of Botswana
In South Africa, De Beers operates through De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), a 74/26 Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partnership with Ponahalo Holdings. DBCM manages Venetia Mine, Voorspoed Mine and the Kimberley tailings dumps, and is in the process of selling Namaqualand Mines and the Rooipoort Mining Right to consortiums with strong BEE credentials.
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Innocent Mabusela
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ABOUT DE BEERS GROUP OF COMPANIES
De Beers is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 23,000 people across the diamond pipeline, and is the world’s largest diamond producer, by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed tLiving up to Diamonds by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers visit www.debeersgroup.com.