Lawyers for the Congolese government have filed criminal complaints against Apple subsidiaries in France and Belgium, accusing the tech firm of using conflict minerals in its supply chain, Congo is a major source of tin, tantalum and tungsten, so-called 3T minerals used in computers and mobile phones.

 According to U.N. experts and human rights groups, some artisanal mines are run by armed groups involved in massacres of civilians, mass rapes, looting and other crimes,. Apple says it does not directly source primary minerals and says it audits suppliers, publishes findings and funds bodies that seek to improve mineral traceability, but international lawyers representing DRC argue that Apple uses minerals pillaged from DRC and laundered through international supply chains, which they say renders the firm complicit in crimes taking place in DRC.

Thami Ngubeni spoke to Smith Etumba Kashinde who is a former African Union Youth Charter representative for DRC, an expert in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.