Kimberley - The number of illegal miners next to the road to Boshof has multiplied into the thousands as desperate community members converge on the outskirts of Kimberley in search of their fortune.
In September 2014, hundreds of miners started setting up their own diamond mining operations in the area after they were apparently kicked out of a neighbouring De Beers mining site just outside the city.
At the time, the men claimed that they had been legally digging between Samaria Road and the Kimberley Caravan Park for around two years until a dispute over payment forced them to occupy other property, where they are now mining illegally.
The number of illegal miners in the area has now swelled to thousands and more arrive almost every day.
Yesterday, exactly two years to the day since the situation was highlighted in the DFA, more illegal mining than ever before is taking place with some of the miners claiming that the mining giant itself is their best customer.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, several miners yesterday indicated that there were still plenty of diamonds to be mined in the area.
However, with the arrival of more competition, more land is being occupied by impromptu excavations, resulting in thousands of illegal diamond diggers sifting through gravel on both sides of the Boshof road, as far out as the De Beers Treatment Plant (DTP) and into the suburbs of Cassandra and De Beers.
“I have been mining here for more than three years,” said one of the miners, standing next to his pit adjacent to Samaria Road.
“I have been lucky enough to find some good stones but they are mostly on the smaller side and under half a carat.
“Unfortunately, things have not been going well lately and I have not found anything in nearly seven months. If I do not find something soon I will have to sell my equipment for scrap just to feed myself and my family.
“My site may be running out of diamonds but there are still plenty of stones further down the road. Other miners have found stones as big as seven and eight carats closer to the DTP,” he added.
“I can move to another site, but I know that if I move another person will take over my site and might find the massive diamond that I have been looking for all this time.”
Another miner, a Zimbabwean national, explained that there was no shortage of willing buyers who were only a phone call away.
“Many people believe that all the cars parked next to the road belong to people wanting to buy the diamonds that we find, but this is not true. Those vehicles belong to the people standing in the veld, sifting through the gravel, just like the rest of us.
“If I find something, I have a number that I can call and a man with the paperwork will come and to see me, but I still prefer to sell to De Beers because they pay better,” he claimed.
While claiming that their activities were above board, the miners acknowledged that they were operating in a legal grey area but added that law enforcement tended to turn a blind eye to their activities.
“The police do come and speak to us from time to time but as long as they do not find you in possession of stolen copper they tend to leave us alone.
“De Beers also do not mind what we do as long as we do not mine on their property.”
De Beers Corporate Communication Manager, Tom Tweedy, yesterday denied any involvement on the part of the company in the purchase or sale of diamonds, emphasising that to do so would be in violation of the Kimberley Process (KP), a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.
“The illicit trade of diamonds is a major problem and we would like to know who is making these transactions,” he said. “This mining is not taking place on De Beers property and any company that abides by the KP would want nothing to do with this kind of illegal activity.
“Nobody may mine without the required permits and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is very supportive of this.
“To be involved in illegal activities of this nature undermines the whole industry,” Tweedy said.
The police referred all media enquiries to the Hawks.
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