Thousands rush for “diamonds” in Kwazulu-Natal province

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 07:58 am

In a small province near Johannesburg, thousands of people have come out on a quest to find unidentified crystal-like pebbles. They are said to be a precious stone that was discovered and identified by a cattle herder a few days prior.

As the news is spread fast, people are coming to grab this lucrative opportunity at the small village of KwaHlathi which is a five hours drive from Johannesburg in eastern Kwazulu-Natal. However, the government is warning all the people that the stones could be worthless but many are still making the trip to find out what is in their store.

Mduduzi Maphumulo, who was digging in the nearby area says, he heard that people are digging diamonds here, so he came to find out what was going on but he ended up holding a crystal pyramid-like structure which appears like a diamond. By the end of the days, there were already hundreds of them on the hillside.

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These people came bearing shovels, picks or sticks and were turning over the soil hoping to see the shine of the famous precious stone.

South Africa’s total natural resources reserves remain some of the world’s most valuable, with an estimated worth of R20.3-trillion. The Cullinan, which was the largest diamond in history at 3,106 carats was discovered on South African soil in 1905 before industrial mining. And similar to now, that diamond was mined just a few metres from the earth’s surface with a pocket knife.

Africa is considered the world-leading mining industry. Even though it is declining currently but still is a great contributor to its economy as it accounts for over 8 per cent of GDP and nearly half a million jobs. The authenticity of the believed diamonds will be verified by experts from South Africa’s Department of Energy and Mines.

Talking to people around, reporters inform that they are poor and don’t have a job. So finding a real diamond could change everything for them. People have spent the night digging in the dirt for money. Some say that these are not diamonds but still wanted to take a chance and find out for sure.