Kimberley is a city situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the capital of the Northern Cape and lies near the convergence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers.
Kimberley is the centre of the diamond industry and is known as “Diamond City” and named after the Earl of Kimberley, who was Colonial Secretary of Britain at the time of its founding in 1871.
The first discovery of diamonds was in 1866 when a farm boy by the name of Erasmus Jacobs found a lovely shiny stone on the Orange River Banks that he brought home and when his father saw it he sold it to a man named Schalk van Niekerk, who in turn sold the stone which was found to be a 21.25 carat diamond and called the “Eureka”. About 3 years after that Schalk van Niekerk came into possession of another diamond which he sold for 11,200 pounds. This turned out to be the “Star of South Africa” which in turn was resold in London for 25,000 pounds.
The real diamond rush only began however in 1871 when a larger quantity of such stones was found on the property of Nicolaas de Beers. After that more than 30,000 people came into the area. Everywhere, in the surrounding area, people began digging in the hope of finding diamonds.
The biggest find was at Colesberg Koppie where digging was concentrated and eventually the Koppie was literally dug away and after that, digging continued deep into the ground and the enormous pit is now referred to as the “Big Hole”. It is no longer in use but has become an extremely impressive landmark. In1888 all the individual diggers rivalling each other were amalgamated by Cecil John Rhodes into De Beers Consolidated Mines.
Today Kimberley offers many interesting things for visitors to experience, in particular its main draw which is the “Big Hole”. Try to imagine a hole the size of 8 rugby fields all dug by hand. Adjoining the “Big Hole” is the Mine Museum with its display of a precise reproduction of the city during the days of the diamond rush. Also of great interest is a guided tour of a diamond mine in operation that goes an astounding 840 meters in depth.
There are also other interesting exhibitions in Kimberley of African art, including the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art centre and the William Humphreys Art Gallery. Kimberley is also renowned for its fine jewellery.
