ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John Grobler is a freelance journalist in Namibia. He has worked as a reporter for the Windhoek Advertiser and for various international news agencies and international publications, including for the New York Times as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow in 1996. At present he is an independent writer and researcher with a special interest in organised crime and the international diamond market. He has worked, among others, for Global Witness and Partnership Africa-Canada and has recently completed a documentary film on the subject of conflict diamonds in conjunction with Denmark ’s TV2 and Germany ’s ARD TV network.

Peter Gastrow is the Cape Town Director of the Institute for Security Studies and the head of its organised crime and corruption programme. Before joining the ISS in December 1997, he practised as an advocate, served as a parliamentarian and was engaged as an adviser to the South African Minister for Safety and Security from 1994 to 1997.

Marcelo Mosse was born and lives in Mozambique where he is a leading independent journalist. He is the former editor of Metical, a private and independent newspaper, and has also worked as a correspondent for the Portuguese weekly, Expresso, and for Radio France International. In 2000 he was declared Mozambique ’s Journalist of the Year by Radio Mozambique and in 1996 he won the Great Prize of Journalism of the Portuguese Instituto Camoes.

Prince Bagenda is the Executive Director and research consultant of the NGO African International Group of Political Risk Analysis (PORIS) in Dar es Salaam. He has worked with various NGO structures in Tanzania and has been involved with projects that focus on corruption.

Simon Pillinger is the CEO of Strategic Research Consultants (Pty) Ltd. He spent a number of years investigating the illicit trade in wildlife and wildlife products and was responsible for designing a law enforcement data base used for combating this trade. He also worked in nature conservation in Botswana, South Africa, and Malawi for several years. He is the administrator for the SADC Rhino and Elephant Security Group and a member of the Interpol Environmental Crime Task Group. His consultancies have taken him to a number of West African States, and to all the East and Southern African States.