ABSTRACT
Kimberley lies at the centre of South Africa on the border of two biomes represented by the Great Karoo and Kalahari deserts. The climate is incredibly hot and dry in summer while cold in winter, with temperature extremes in the range of -8 to 40°C. The semi-desert conditions of the surrounding landscape – with its parched soil, near-infinite horizon and expansive blue skies – possess a special quality: intense, still and sublime. But the arid beauty of the land is not the reason for this town. In 1871, diamonds were discovered near Barkley West and shortly aĞer, in the same year, a further discovery of diamonds by Esau Demoense, a black labourer, led to the establishment of the world’s richest diamond mine at Kimberley. It was not long before the British Government of the Cape Colony decided they needed to own this great wealth, and so annexed the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR)1 diamond fields in 1871, an action which helped trigger the South African War.2 Present-day Kimberley sprung to life as a British colonial mining town, with diggers rushing there from across the world. But few of these early miners found their fortune. Instead, ‘many diggers met their death in mining accidents. The unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables, as well as the intense heat in summer also took their toll.’3 Ultimately, the great wealth of Kimberley fell into the hands of a small elite of white businessmen – most notably, Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit and Barney Barnato – who worked to consolidate the many early mines and control diamond supply.4 The De Beers Consolidated Mine of Kimberley was formed in 1888 and the ‘Big Hole’ positioned at the centre of the town is all that remains of that infamous mine. By 1914, when digging stopped here, the mine had yielded some 2,722 kg of diamonds.5 The big hole is ‘reputed to be the largest handmade cavity on earth … [with] a diameter of 500 meters and a maximum shaĞ depth of 1,100 meters’.6
