The Mineral Policy and Promotion Branch is involved in a number of ministerial projects such as the Kgabane Jewellery Project was launched in October 2002. Its mandate is to facilitate the transfer of jewellery making skills to women who have traditional craft jewellery skills and to encourage the entry of previously disadvantaged South Africans into the jewellery industry. By 2004, a total of 418 women had received training in jewellery design and manufacture through the deployment of trainers to communities.

Other developments include

• A partnership with the Fashion District on a youth-mentoring programme that aims at bringing together design capabilities from clothing, accessories and jewellery in order to inspire new designs, through intense technical training and mentoring of the youth. The youth in this programme also receive training in business skills through external sources and source markets for their products with the assistance of Kgabane.
• The Ghana/Mali skills transfer programme is facilitated by the Branch under the auspices of the African Mining Partnership. Through this programme arrangements have been made to host jewellers from Ghana who will train people in impoverished communities in West African Indigenous jewellery manufacturing skills, which require very minimal resources such as electricity.
• The building of a fully equipped workshop in Gugulethu, in the premises of the College of Cape Town. Kgabane has tapped into the group of people from Gugulethu that have been trained by the college in jewellery manufacture and are currently unemployed. The facilitator is tasked with facilitating the upgrade of skills, product development and marketing.
• A number of ranges, including costume jewellery and gift ranges have been sold or placed on consignment in seven stores (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Pretoria and the Northern Cape). Four sales agents have been employed to target different areas of the country.
• Two linkages have been established with Edcon and American Swiss and negotiations are continuing to establish a partnership in manufacture and sales.
• Work is ongoing on research and development in terms of the use of gold in jewellery with Mintek.

  The project has a budget of R8 million mainly composed of grants from the MQA, Harmony Gold, Department of Arts and Culture, Kellogg Foundation and the Lotto Trust.

IDZ - Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct

A consortium led by Blue IQ, the Airports Company of South Africa, and Mintek are establishing a Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct (JMP) at the Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) IDZ, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Minerals and Energy.

The Precious Metals and Minerals Precinct is being established on a 5-hectare plot within the JIA high-security zone located close to the main passenger terminals. The area set aside for the Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct is on the main terminal side of the airfield, in close proximity to Caesar's Palace Casino, numerous hotels and tourism facilities. Space in the initial manufacturing space is to be allocated to diamond dealers, the Diamond Board, the Diamond Boarse, Diamond cutting and polishing works, jewellery manufacture, and a skills development and design centre.

Design Indaba

The DME, through the branch, participated in the annual Design Indaba in Cape Town for the first time in March 2005. The branch facilitated the participation of jewellers in the Design Expo and organised funding for the jewellery stand at the Expo as well as the inaugural Jewellery Indaba of the Design Indaba. Work is in progress to ensure a co-ordinated effort in terms of funding and wider participation by DTI, DAC and the DME.

Diamond Jewellery Management (DJM) Institute

The DME launched the Diamond Jewellery Management (DJM) Institute at the Antwerp Diamond Conference 2004 in Belgium. The establishment of the institute at the Antwerp University was co-funded by the DME (through sponsorship provided by De Beers) and such funding entitled South Africa to two scholarships for studies in the MSc in Diamond Jewellery Management, or the commissioning of research work in the field of diamonds. The South African Embassy in Belgium negotiated a further two scholarships. As a result, arrangements were made to ensure the participation of South Africans, especially those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.