Rockwell revamps its Board of Directors

VANCOUVER, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Rockwell Diamonds Inc. ("Rockwell" or the "Company") (TSX: RDI; JSE: RDI; OTCBB: RDIAF) announces changes to its Board of Directors, resulting in a more independent and balanced board.

These positive changes have been implemented as a result of a recent board review of the Company's operations in light of volatile capital market conditions and investor perceptions of listed diamond entities. The changes also reflect alignment with Rockwell's black economic empowerment partner and its largest shareholder, Pala Investments.

    The changes, effective as of November 21, 2008, include the following:

    -   After playing key roles in the advancement of Rockwell, Mr Pat
        Bartlett, Mr Rene G. Carrier, Mr Scott Cousens, and Mr Douglas Silver
        have resigned from the Board;
    -   Mr Sandile Zungu, a mechanical engineer with an MBA and a founding
        member of Zungu Investments Company (Proprietary) Limited ("Zico") ,
        a diversified investment company which is the majority shareholder of
        Rockwell's empowerment partner Africa Vanguard Resources ("AVR"), has
        joined the Board as an independent director;
    -   Mr Terry Janes, a geological engineer who was involved in the
        establishment of Canada's Ekati diamond mine and managed BHP
        Billiton's diamond marketing operations in Antwerp has joined the
        board as an independent director;
    -   Mr Bill Fisher, a geologist with alluvial diamond mining experience
        in Africa and Brazil, and broad experience in the management of
        Canadian publicly listed companies has joined the board as an
        independent director;
    -   Mr Greg Radke, a lawyer with 15 years experience in international
        finance has joined the board as an independent director; and
    -   Mr David Copeland, Dr Mark Bristow, and Dr John Bristow will all
        continue to serve as directors.

President and CEO John Bristow said, "These changes create a strong balance of independence, as well as operational, diamond market, and corporate experience, on the Board, which will benefit the Company in the currently harsh global financial environment. At the same time, the Company welcomes representation from its empowerment partner to the Board and looks forward to strengthening its South African footprint with the assistance of AVR. I would like to thank the retiring members of the Board for their important hard work, support and contributions towards the growth of the Company."

    New Directors
    -------------

Sandile Zungu is founder, Chairman and majority shareholder of Zico, a broad-based black empowerment company. Mr Zungu spent six years in engineering and production at Richards Bay Minerals, Engen Refinery, National Sorghum Breweries and South African Breweries. He subsequently joined the corporate finance division of African Merchant Bank, following which he played a key role in the formation of Sarhwu Investment Holdings growing it from a zero asset base to more than R400 million in the net asset value. Thereafter he assumed the role of Executive Director for Strategy and Empowerment at New Africa Investments Limited. He created Zico in 2002, a broad based and diversified industrial holding organization with interests in financial services, media, health care, and resources, the latter being held in AVR. AVR is Rockwell's empowerment partner and holds 26% of the prospecting and mining rights held in South Africa, with Rockwell holding the remaining 74%. Sandile completed a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Cape Town and an MBA at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town.

Terry Janes has worked for 35 years in the mining industry, the last 30 with BHP Billiton and its predecessor companies. In 1993 he became involved in the evaluation and subsequent development of the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. He was responsible for the completion of the Environmental Impact Statement and the project Feasibility Study. In 1997 he moved to Antwerp, Belgium to establish and manage BHP Billiton's diamond marketing office through which the rough diamond sales were conducted. In 2000, he was appointed Vice President Marketing, Diamonds and subsequently, Marketing Director, Diamonds. Mr. Janes was responsible for the establishment of a multi-channel marketing model designed to optimize pricing and create value-added opportunities which also included the selling of branded polished diamonds. Mr. Janes holds B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees in geological engineering from the University of Toronto.

William (Bill) Fisher, a British geologist, spent much of his early career in diamond exploration and mining in Africa. He was a mine production geologist in Angola for de Beers, and also in Guinea, West Africa for AREDOR where he was responsible for mine control of alluvial, colluvial and open pit kimberlite operations. He was also Mine Manager of a small alluvial gold mine in northern Queensland, Australia and as CEO of Ambrex Mining, he established a diamond pilot plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mr. Fisher moved to Canada in 1993 as a diamond expert. He subsequently became Vice President of Exploration for Boliden, and then CEO of GlobeStar Mining Corporation. He has been Chairman and Director of a number of publically listed Canadian companies, including Treasury Metals, and currently serves as director of PC Gold as well as CEO of Karmin Exploration. Mr. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Kingston University, London UK and is a practicing Professional Geologist.

Gregory Radke has worked for more than 15 years in international finance, including extensive experience with both private and public companies in diverse capital markets such as New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. He is currently General Counsel for Pala Investments AG, the exclusive advisor to Pala Investments Holdings Limited, a multi-strategy investment fund with a focus on mining and natural resources. Mr. Radke received his J.D. from Columbia University and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard University.

    John Bristow
    President and CEO

           No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the
                 information contained in this news release.

                         Forward Looking Statements

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Other than statements of historical fact all statements in this release that address future production, reserve or resource potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that each Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, availability of capital and financing, geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability, and general economic, and market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Rockwell, Investors should review Rockwell's annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission www.sec.com and the Company's home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Rockwell Diamonds Inc.