Kimberley

Nowadays little more than a stopover between Cape Town and Johannesburg, Kimberley is still synonymous worldwide with diamonds. It's situated in a dry, dusty area of the Northern Cape but it does boast a fascinating history.

In 1871, diamonds were found on a small hill that became known as Colesberg Koppie (later Kimberley). Within a few months there were over 30,000 men toiling in an area roughly 300m by 200m.

When the hill had been dug away, they simply carried on digging. The result was a big hole, in fact the largest man-made hole in the world. It was here that the famous Star of Africa was found, a magnificent 83.5 carat diamond, and other giant sparklers far too big for a ring.

A shantytown of tents and tin shacks sprang up, with scarce water and little sanitation, but people did anything to get rich. Those that did lit their cigars with bank notes and bathed in champagne. Working in such confined spaces gave rise to claim jumping, riots and fights.

It was increasingly obvious that some form of order was needed, and the imperialist Cecil John Rhodes provided this by buying up as many claims as possible. His ambition was to control all the diamond mines around Kimberley.

Barney Barnato, chief executive of the Kimberley Central Mining Company and previously a London barrow boy, was his only competition. Rhodes finally bought him out in 1889 for the princely sum of £5,338,650 and membership of the exclusive Kimberley Club which was previously denied to Barnarto. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd was formed and has been the richest diamond company in the world since then.

The big hole, which yielded 14,5 million carats of diamonds from 28 million tons of 'blue ground', dominates the city of Kimberley and is quite an awesome sight. It is dormant now, but the Kimberley Mine Museum recreates what it was like in its heyday.

Kimberley was not always peaceful and prosperous and some of the most decisive Anglo-Boer War battles were fought here. In 1899 the Siege of Kimberley lasted 124 days, with the entire town (including Rhodes) besieged inside. For four months the town was subjected to sporadic gunfire, and the women and children were sent down into the De Beers Mine to protect them from shelling.

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