De Beers Rejects P14bn Tax Claim

The diamond giant insists it has met its obligations as opposition pressure grows for government to clarify whether Botswana is owed P14 billion in unpaid tax. De Beers has rejected renewed claims that it owes Botswana billions of pula in unpaid taxes as opposition pressure mounts on government to explain its handling of an alleged P14 billion liability. The denial follows growing scrutiny from opposition parties demanding clarity over the long-running tax controversy.

The matter has since reached Parliament, where BDP legislator Palelo Mataosane is seeking answers from Finance Minister and Vice President Ndaba Gaolatlhe on government’s position regarding the alleged tax debt. Mataosane’s question was placed on the National Assembly order paper on 14 July and remained listed as recently as Tuesday, 4 August. On both occasions, he was unable to pose it because question time expired before Parliament moved to scheduled motions.

De Beers insists it has met its tax obligations and rejects suggestions that it avoided paying what was legally due to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS). Speaking during the company’s 2026 half-year results presentation last week, De Beers Executive Vice President for Diamond Trading Paul Rowley said the company had consistently operated within tax regulations in every jurisdiction where it does business. “All I can say is that actually we spent a lot of time with BURS over many years on their advanced pricing agreements.

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It’s fair to say, De Beers has been committed to, throughout where it works as a global international company and remains committed to compliance with relevant tax laws in any jurisdictions, to be quite honest. And we make sure that we operate and we pay the right amount of taxes at the right time. And we’ve never done anything different to that.

And as I said, that’s, you know, it took a long time from when we moved to making sure that we had the relevant Advance Pricing Agreements in place and everything, as far as I’m concerned, for sure, the De Beers group is in place. So that’s as far as I can state on that particular question, if that’s okay,” Rowley remarked. The alleged dispute has become politically charged, with opposition figures arguing that government must account for why it has not pursued the reported claim if such a liability exists. The controversy comes as Botswana seeks greater value from its diamond industry and enters a new phase in its decades-long relationship with De Beers.

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