“This paper attempts to contribute to the continuing debate. It discusses the linkage between armed conflicts and extractive resources generally and specifically with reference to Southern Africa. The challenges arising from that linkage are then explored against the background of the objectives of law enforcement. In the final part, the paper outlines some suggestions for regulatory policy and administrative changes. These will admittedly be expensive to introduce. The paper concludes that neither the public sector nor private industry has a choice, given the geo-political position of the primary resources producing countries.”