The Discovery and Ownership of Diamond Mines at Kimberly

The star of Africa cut and polished. Image credit pininterest.com

Discovery of Diamonds

• They were first discovered first in 1867 in the area the Vaal River flows into the Orange River
• Diamonds were picked by residents of the valley of Vaal, the local Griqua, Kora and Tswana who exchanged them with Cape Colony traders for horses, guns, clothing, brandy and cash
• The next discovery which was of significance was done in March 1869 when a Griqua herdsman picked a large diamond
• The news spread like veld fire and the diamond was named the Star of South Africa
• This resulted in many fortune hunters rushing to enter the area
• All of them were from Transvaal, Cape Colony and Natal
• Another discovery also happened in 1869 May at Kipdrift

Ownership of Diamond Mines

• Nicholas Waterber and his Griqua followers possessed pastoral lands were diamonds were being mined for the first time.
• However they could not resist the fortune-hunters coming in large numbers
• The Tlhaping of jantjie, Mankurwane of Tuang and Mothibi of Dikgatlhong and Mahura also owned diamond fields
• The Rolong under Nchu also claimed ownership of the lands which they argued were an inheritance from their forefathers
• Jan Bloem claimed ownership of the Kora lands
• The Orange Free state claimed the field found between Orange and Vaal rivers
• The land north of the Transvaal was claimed by the Boers and the Cape Colony
• The ownership issue was later settled in 1871 by a special court
• Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, Keate ruled in favor of Waterboer who gave his ownership rights under British protection
• The Orange Free State were given compensation of 90 000 pounds for their loss of the claim by Britain
• The responsibility of running the claim was put under the Cape Colony and it was done by 1880

To access more topics go to the History Notes page.