It was like living in hell. The sun burned over his head ; the earth burned underneath his feet. Not a shade nor a shelter nor even a hill for miles. Here, all around him, acres upon acres of level ground, like a ploughed field on which nothing could ever grow, jealously guarded with high wire fences, to be found inside which was a heinous criminal offence. These were the 'floors,' where the ruby-bearing gravel was spread out to disintegrate in the sun.¹

The richest diamond deposits that the world has ever seen were discovered by chance under a Camelthorn tree on a small hillock on the farm Vooruitzicht in South Africa in 1871. The boom-town that soon developed became known as the City of Kimberley. Kimberley and its mines was the seat of the company, De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines, that formed the basis of the economic and political power of Cecil John Rhodes, who by 1890 effectively controlled 90% of the world’s diamond production.

A map of the city of Kimberley and its environs in 1892 depicts the “Diamond Floors” that surrounded the mines. The floors were extensive tracts of land from which all vegetation had been removed and upon which mined diamondiferous Kimberlite ore was spread out and allowed to weather before being processed further. As the mechanical processing of Kimberlite developed, the floors and the weathering of Kimberlite thereon became unnecessary to the production of diamonds. In some instances the desolate floors became the site for newly developed African housing projects within the context of apartheid legislation, and in one specific instance the abandoned floors became the site of the Wildlife Reserve Rooifontein.

In the present Rooifontein forms a physical buffer zone surrounding the diamond processing zone of the Ekapa diamond mining company. Being a Wildlife Reserve, access to Rooifontein is strictly controlled and monitored, which is of benefit to Ekapa as it keeps unwanted elements, Zama Zama informal miners, at a distance. Rooifontein is presented as part of the “environmental projects” of Ekapa where birdlife is stimulated, and wildlife has been introduced and marketed in terms of furthering biodiversity. Be that as it may, Rooifontein was and is an industrial mining site.

This paper is based upon experimental historical methodology that draws together- archival material, oral accounts, photographs, and, most importantly, “walking the land”. “Walking the land” entails literally walking across the landscape and actively noting the historical aspects and transformation of the landscape. For example the siting of rubbish tips, trolley rails, exotic trees, artillery shells, company bricks, and much more, all of which are objects that tell of the history of Rooifontein as an industrial mining site. In so doing, the paper draws attention to the hidden histories of industrial diamond mining in Kimberley, South Africa.

In 1896 F.R. Statham published, Mr Magnus, ostensibly a novel, which described the ruby mining town of Camberton and the power wielded by “Mr. Magnus”. The book was, in essence, a thinly disguised description of the diamond mining town of Kimberley and the power wielded by Cecil John Rhodes.² The work eloquently described the way in which Cecil John Rhodes, at that stage Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and Director of the De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines Limited, blatantly and unashamedly deployed power. In one section of Mr Magnus the narrator finds employment overlooking the work of labourers on the “Floors”, and reflects on the power of “Mr Magnus”, AKA Cecil John Rhodes:

These men whom he watched were convicts, often desperate characters, and yet he could do little else than pity them. Their life was so utterly and infinitely below the life accorded to the most wretched mongrel of a dog. They were hired from the Government on exceptionally favourable terms—from the Government that delighted to do anything to oblige Mr Magnus. Indeed, Mr Magnus was the Government, and on behalf of the Government he hired out to himself, as the supreme head of Porters Ruby Mining Company, the convicts whose labour could be secured at so reasonable a figure.³

In the present, a section of the “Floors” so eloquently described by Statham have become part of the the farm Rooifontein, near to Kimberley, South Africa, and owned by the Ekapa Mining company.⁴ Rooifontein, is marketed in a number of varying guises, as a “Wildlife Club”, “Wildlife Conservancy”, “Nature Reserve”, “Game Reserve”, or “Game Farm”.⁵ Sadly, aside from the lofty aspirations, Rooifontein is the site of extensive canned hunting and the cynical use of environmental whitewashing as a security device to protect diamond mining interests. Be that as it may, Rooifontein has consistently been a place that I have looked forward to visiting and visited with pleasure in the past five years. Rooifontein is a place of relief from the grind of archival and library research in the deeply depressing setting that is Kimberley, an imploding city of urban decay, rampant corruption, and lost dreams. In the context of almost apocalyptical urban decay, Rooifontein represents to me a site of peace and tranquillity within sight of industrial diamond mining and urban sprawl. Each visit has left me, and continues to leave me, in awe with the beauty and power of life, the ability of life to insinuate itself where ever it can. But with time, I have also come to learn more and more about the area that was initially presented to me as pristine nature. Over time, I have come to learn that Rooifontein, far from being virgin territory, was the site of extensive and intensive industrial mining, overlain on a terrain of deep historical depth and importance. It has been through “walking the land”, coupled to my archival and library research, that I have come to new insights with regard to Rooifontein; insights which I will seek to cover in what remains below.

Beginning in 1871 the staggeringly rich diamondiferous volcanic diamond pipes of what would become the De Beers, Du Toits Pan, Bultfontein, Colesberg Kopje (Kimberley Mine) and Wesselton mines were discovered all within a five kilometre radius of one another. In addition to these five major mines there were at least six other kimberlite diamond pipes that were mined in Kimberley.⁶ Indeed, there is no other place on earth that was as richly endowed with diamond pipes as is the area around the city of Kimberley, the city that developed on these pipes and mines and gave its name, Kimberlite, to the specific rock type that bears the diamonds that made Kimberley so internationally renowned. The discovery of diamonds first at Du Toits Pan, and then spreading onwards to encompass all the mines listed above, transformed an area that already had a rich historical legacy. That is, contrary to what many may have believed when they observed the open veld, the land had a long-legacy of human occupation beginning with the precursors of Homo Habilis approximately 2 million years ago.⁷

When diamond mining began in what would later become the Kimberley area in 1871, the kimberlite rocks bearing the diamonds were weathered and comparatively easy to excavate. In the course of digging down into what were essentially the Kimberlite pipes of extinct volcanoes, the diggers exhausted the weathered rock and struck a hard bluish-grey to blue-green igneous rock that became known as Blue Ground. Initially it was not realised that the Blue Ground was also diamondiferous. Once excavated and exposed to the elements the hard Blue Ground rapidly weathered and broke down, exposing the diamonds that had lain within the Kimberlite. When it was realised that the Blue Gound contained diamonds, the mining companies continued excavating and began spreading their excavated Blue Ground on “Floors”, around Kimberley.⁸ Describing the “Floors” Steve Lunderstedt wrote:

The diamond depositing Floors were made by removing the bush and grass from a fairly level piece of ground. The land was then rolled and made as hard and as smooth as possible. The Floors were generally laid off in rectangular sections 600 yards long by 200 yards wide, each floor section holding about 50 000 loads. The depositing was done on portable lines extending from the main line on either side of the floors.

A truck (cocopan) holding 16 cubic feet was used on the surface when the mines were worked from the open pit, and then were introduced in underground workings. This became the unit of measurement throughout the diamond fields. A load of blue ground weighed about 1600 pounds and covered about 21 square feet when deposited on the floors.

The blue ground, once deposited, remained on the floors without much manipulation, the sun and moisture having a wonderful effect upon it, with large pieces soon commencing to crumble. The ground was continually harrowed (ploughed) to assist in pulverization. Spans of mules were used in 1889 to draw the harrow back and forth, but steam traction engines were ordered in early 1890. The length of time necessary for the ground to be exposed before it became sufficiently pulverized depended entirely upon the season and the amount of rain that had fallen. The blue from the Kimberley Mine became well pulverized in about 3 months during summer, while that from the De Beers mine took about 6 months. The longer the ground remained exposed the better it was for washing.⁹

The extent of these floors is not to be under-estimated, particularly following the amalgamation and consolidation of monopoly control of diamond mining within De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mining in 1884. A map, entitled General Plan of the Diamond Fields Griqualand West, South Africa, dated 1893, and included in this paper, provides a graphic image of the extent of these “Floors”. As meteorologist Sutton noted in 1898:

The floors belonging to the De Beers and Kimberley Mines extend, practically without interruption, some four miles [6.4 Kilometres] east and west, and from one to two miles [1.6 to 3.2 Kilometres] north and south; and in order that they shall be as convenient as possible they are cleared of every trace of vegetation – trees, bushes, and grass all being sacrificed. The blue-ground is spread upon the floors to an average depth of about 10 inches [25 centimetres], and remains there for a period which may run into many months until it is sufficiently disintegrated to be ready for washing and sorting.¹⁰

Sutton continued by noting that, “the floors-area, so far as vegetation is concerned, may be regarded as a small desert of blue-earth and rock”.¹¹ Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, a seemingly endless stream of coco-pans deposited and collected Blue-ground on these “Floors”. Statham noted:

All round and round the 'floors ran the little tram-lines, and over the tram lines passed a never-ending procession of trucks, seeming from a little distance to be propelled by no visible agency, but really following, at regular intervals, the movement of a wire cable.¹²

Statham provided a nightmarish view of the “Floors” in which the human scale or dimension was absent, except of course if the “Floors” of Kimberley were to be seen as a precursor for the worst excesses of mechanised humankind:

Hills? Oh, yes, there were hills— hills, mountain ranges almost, of the debris spewed out from the mines, grey mounds with their sides deeply scored by the summer rains, and here and there surmounted by strange erections, looking in the distance something like distorted church-towers— the washing machines that took up the dry gravel at one side and gradually dropped it, under successive streams of water, on the other. These machines sometimes seemed to his fancy like the gigantic praying wheels of some form of demon-worship. And there— there, towering high above the debris-heaps, was the spire of the central temple of that worship, the massive headgear of the shaft down to the mine, with its wheels and cables never at rest day or night, one 'skip ' eternally going down to be filled, as another came up to be emptied.¹³

In the 1950’s as mining and processing technology developed, the “Floors” were no longer necessary for the processing of “Blue ground”, and the “Floors” were closed down. In the immediate vicinity of the Bultfontein, Du Toitspan and Wesselton mines, part of the “Floors” remained barren and would later become the Rooifontein reserve. At the same time, in an act of supreme cynicism that is difficult to appreciate in the present, townships for the African population of Kimberley were also established on the “floors” as the “Floors Township” of Florianville. This site, later became, in keeping with apartheid legislation of the time, Colville a “Coloured Township”. Colville Township, developed as it was on terrain totally bereft of any plant life, was assigned street names that ranged from A to M, and related to trees; Acacia, Almond, Ash, Beech, Bloubos, Beefwood, Cedar, Cypress, Ganna, Jacaranda, Karree, Mopani, Mimosa, Mesquite. The bulk of these trees, with the exception of the Karree, Mopani and the Ganna are not indigenous to South Africa.

In the shadow of the largest man-made structure of the Northern Cape, the 135 metre high Ekapa mine dump, that contains no less than 150 million tonnes of diamond bearing kimberlite ore, Rooifontein reserve forms a formidable barrier.¹⁴ Rooifontein is situated on the “floors” just outside Kimberley effectively on the provincial border of the Northern Cape and the Free State. Here extensive diamond operations have taken place since the 1870s. The property includes remnant mine dumps, open areas of grassland and shrubland, and pockets of extreme historical importance, specifically petroglyphs, described as Koisan rock art. Parts of Rooifontein have been used for wildlife conservancy, breeding programmes and recreational activities such as hiking, birdwatching and organised events such as park-runs and bicycle trails.

Rooifontein Reserve, established as it is on the remains of the “floors”, is dominated by trees and plants that are not indigenous to South Africa. As such the reserve is home to Mesquite (AKA Prosopius) from the Americas, Eucalyptus (AKA Blue Gum) from Australasia, and a wide variety of other invasives including cacti and sisal. In 2009 Daniel Ipongo, a natural scientist conducting doctoral research at the University of Stellenbosch, conducted a survey of Rooifontein reserve with specific reference to the Peruvian Pepper Tree, an invasive tree species, and noted:

The “grazed savanna” site is on the game farm Rooifontein which is approximately 3,500 ha in area and belongs to De Beers Mining Company. The dominant native tree species is A. tortilis, and associated with it are the fleshy-fruited indigenous species Rhus lancea and Ziziphus mucronata, and the alien Schinus molle. The open areas between the trees are dominated by grasses (Schmidtia pappophoroides and Eragrostis lehmanniana) and dwarf Asteraceous shrubs such as Pentzia incana. Indigenous antelope, zebra and ostrich are stocked at a total density of 17.4 ha/LSU (Large Stock Unit, equivalent to one 450 kg head of cattle), whilst the recommended rate is 18.6 ha/LSU. The area burned during the study period and could be described as moderately disturbed.¹⁵

Clearly, Iponga, who described the site as “moderately disturbed”, had no idea as to the history of the reserve as a site of industrial mining. The Acacia Tortilis referred to by Iponga, is the former scientific name for the Vachellia tortilis, commonly known as Umbrella Thorn in English and Haak-en-Steek (Hook and Stab) in Afrikaans. The Umbrella Thorn is the iconic tree that evokes classic Safari images of Africa so widely disparaged by Wainaina.¹⁶ As far as trees go, it clearly has a pleasing aesthetic for humans and is described as follows:

It has the classic, umbrella-shaped canopy associated with thorn trees. It reaches heights of between 5-20m in nature. Flowering is profuse and occurs from November-January in the southern hemisphere. The flowers are white to pale yellow. The species adapts well to garden conditions, provided it does not receive too much water. It tolerates moderate frost and much drought. This truly makes an outstanding bonsai specimen!!¹⁷

With stricter legislation than if had been a commercial farm, Rooifontein forms an extremely effective physical obstruction to informal Zama-Zama mining.¹⁸ It was on this former site of industrial diamond mining that in June and July 2025 my students and I conducted our research.

For the past 30 months I had been in communication with the management of the reserve and informed them of my intention to walk the land with my students. I had indicated my intention to visit in June and July of 2025 and had received assurances that all would be well. The bulk of this communication had been by email and Whatsapp. In October of 2024 I decided to make doubly sure that our reservation was still valid. As such, I visited the administrative offices of the reserve in person and was greeted with a very cheerful, “Professor Gewald, so very good of you to come”. Not surprisingly, I immediately sensed that something was wrong, and that which was wrong and had been overseen in all of our prior online communication, was that the hunting season was set to open on the first of June 2025. In other words, that the period of time that I had reserved for the field school with my students in the reserve, would be one in which a substantial set of hunters would be out and about, armed and dangerous and anxious to shoot to kill; hardly an environment in which an academic and students could safely be expected to walk the land. Thankfully, after a lot of discussion and negotiation, it was agreed that my students and I could access the reserve on one of the two weekends on which there would be no hunting, and in which the administration took stock of the hunting.

In the event my students and I entered the security gates of reserve and were able to take up residence in “Die Nes”, a two-storeyed structure overlooking a waterhole frequented by buck and birds, and which in the past had been a diamond cleaning and washing site in the 1870s run by a certain Henry A. Ward prior to the establishment of the “Floors”, let alone Rooifontein reserve.¹⁹ Standing on top of the two storey structure of “Die Nes”, the former site of Ward’s diamond washing area, visitors to Rooifontein get a stunning view of the reserve extending towards the East, while behind them to the West, the Ekapa Mine dump rises up off the bleak terrain as an illuminated and throbbing beacon in the night. The students were stunned to discover a substantial gun safe on the first floor of “Die Nes”; a necessary precaution given that firearms and alcohol are not good bedfellows.

In the 1880’s, Kimberley suffered a major depression as the diamond price dropped no less than 30% due to oversupply to the market. In these hard times a number of men received permission to wash diamond gravels and debris near to Kimberley. Of these men, Ward was convinced that another diamond mine, besides those already established, was to be found near Kimberley. As such Ward had acquired mineral rights on the farms Olifantsfontein and Benauwdheidsfontein, and it was here that the Premier, later to be renamed Wesselton Diamond Mine, was discovered just outside Kimberley.²⁰ Ward initially named the mine the Premier Mine in honour of Cecil Rhodes who had become Premier of the Cape Colony in 1890, it later became known as the Wesselton Mine. Be that as it may, the discovery of the mine led to a diamond rush:

Despite common knowledge of Ward having the mineral rights to the land as well as negotiations being underway between Ward and De Beers, the diggers of Kimberley and Beaconsfield were most unhappy about the state of affairs. They “rushed” the site en masse on Thursday 5 February 1891, some 400 claims being pegged, and even petitioned for the land to be proclaimed a public digging. They did not succeed and a court decision upheld the agreement Ward had with farm owner Wessels, as well as the subsequent agreement between Ward and De Beers Consolidated Mines.²¹

In 2015 Ekapa a Kimberley based mining company acquired the Kimberley Mines assets previously held by De Beers, amongst which, the Wesselton, Bultfontein and Du Toitspan mines. The mines continue to operate in the present under the management of Ekapa Mining. Ekapa’s stated business model includes reworking tailings and operating both underground and surface units in the Kimberley complex, this includes Rooifontein.²²

In July 2025 is became apparent that an independent diamond mining company, bearing the name Affordable Outcomes CC and based in the small historical alluvial diamond mining town of Christiana in North West Province had lodged an application to conduct diamond mining over substantial portions of Rooifontein.²³ This application, which had been begun in 2021 (during the Covid lockdown) was first made public at a meeting held on 28 August 2025 at the Paddock Hall, Horseshoe Inn, 101 Memorial Road, Kimberley.²⁴ The application materials, specifically the “Summary of the Proposed Mining Operations”, which identifies the project area and list the activities proposed led to a storm of protest.²⁵ The document, which describes mechanised extraction, associated infrastructure, as well as proposed environmental management measures covers an area of several hundred hectares. The meeting held at the Paddock Hall was acrimonious at best.

A journalist who attended the meeting and whom I had asked about the meeting responded to me by WhatsApp, “Gee, it was awful. There were a lot of people, at least 5 of them told the consultants that the mine was unwelcome. White and black people. The consultant was not impressed, even rolled her eyes!!!”.²⁶ Another friend who attended simply noted, “Pokkers!”.²⁷ The South African political party Freedom Front, which predominantly represents white agricultural interests in the country sent a high-powered five man delegation that laid into the plans being presented by the mining company “Affordable Outcomes’, and their environmental consultant Lindie Wiehahn.²⁸ In a video later posted on Facebook, the Freedom Front delegation provided a devastating critique of the plans, primarily in relation to the use of water, which in the arid region of the Northern Cape is always a crucial matter.²⁹

The meeting, which was attended by approximately 60 people, was not attended by the owners of Affordable Outcomes, Shawn Mace and Mohammed Rayanna Mustapha, both of were reportedly unable to attend “due to another urgent meeting”.³⁰ Many spoke and expressed their opposition to the proposed mining, but it was striking that the most trenchant and convincing opposition was provided by John Hohne, CEO of Ekapa mining. In addition to a written statement, Hohne spoke with passion and knowledge of the subject, a speech that was greeted by cheers of support and extensive clapping as he spoke. Hohne stated, inter alia:

It will be an open pit mine, which is completely unacceptable to us and the club members who use the game farm for recreation.

[the applicants] have no idea what minerals are actually under the ground. De Beers, who previously owned the land, conducted two in-depth studies and drilled prospecting holes everywhere. There are no vertical diamond pipes, only horizontal layers. The kimberlite does not have enough diamonds to be economically viable or profitable. Other mining companies also drilled dozens of prospecting holes near Rooifontein but packed their bags after huge losses.³¹

In his written deposition Hohne stated:

In summary, Ekapa objects to the assumption that because there is kimberlite presence that a Mining Right should be applied for when the reality of kimberlites on a global basis that only 7% of all kimberlites carry diamond the balance are barren and then only 7% of the diamondiferous are viable, the balance are economically unviable and then only 1% of the viable mines are today operational production mines indicating the highly unlikely outcome that these Rooifontein kimberlites having already been established as uneconomical, non-profitable kimberlites will ever become successful, profitable primary kimberlite diamond mines.³²

And concluded:

Please note that Ekapa will not tolerate any mining activity on this pristine environmentally sensitive property on Rooifontein that will in any which way degrade from its natural and highly preserved Wildlife Environmental Club of over 1375 members plus their families and friends totaling more than 5000 interested and directly affected parties. ³³

In the present, consultations are ongoing. My own written opposition to the envisaged mining on heritage grounds and that historical material would be destroyed was fobbed off by referencing that there were petroglyphic sites elsewhere in the region and that the sites on Rooifontein had not been listed. In a lengthy reply that hints at the use of a AI text generator akin to ChatGpt the consultants stated:

Our organization has not been formally notified of any visits to the Rooifontein farm, including their frequency or the number of students involved. The interest in the Rooifontein petroglyphs is encouraging and highlights the significance of the broader regional heritage landscape. Our research indicates that other sites, such as Wildebeest Kuil (located northeast of Kimberley on the Barkly West road) and Driekopseiland (near Douglas), are also sites of major significance and are well-known for their extensive petroglyph collections. These sites are recognized for their scientific and cultural value and have established management protocols. ³⁴

Apart from the fact that there was and is absolutely no legal obligation that study or educational visits be reported or vetted by the consultant and mining company, the reply fully fails to appreciate the unique nature of the historical sites to be found at Rooifontein. Sites that span the paleolithic through to the contemporary. Steve Lunderstedt, author, researcher, gatekeeper and historian of Kimberley, stated in an interview with Charne Kemp that Rooifontein has the “richest sources of [Kimberley] history such as Khoisan petroglyphs and rock paintings, a Second World War ammunition testing site, the headquarters of the Free State Burgers in the Anglo Boer War with ruins of an old village and a camp, mining camps from the 1880s, and even more. We will strongly oppose any mining.”³⁵

References