Kimberley is thecapital and largest city of theNorthern Cape province ofSouth Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of theVaal andOrange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance because of itsdiamond mining past and thesiege during theSecond Boer War. The British businessmenCecil Rhodes andBarney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes also established theDe Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town.
In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of theOrange River, on the farmDe Kalk leased from localGriquas, nearHopetown, which was his father's farm. He showed the pebble to his father, who then sold it.[4]: 16 The pebble was purchased from Jacobs' father by Schalk van Niekerk, who later sold it on again. It proved to be a 21.25-carat (4.3 g)diamond, and became known as theEureka. Three years later, in 1869, an 83.5-carat (16.7 g) diamond, which became known as theStar of South Africa, was found nearby (29°3′S23°58′E / 29.050°S 23.967°E /-29.050; 23.967).[5][6] This diamond was sold by van Niekerk for £11,200, and later resold in the London market for £25,000.[4]
Fleetwood Rawstorne's "Red Cap Party" of prospectors on Colesberg Kopje
Henry Richard Giddy recounted how Esau Damoense (or Damon), the cook for prospector Fleetwood Rawstorne's "Red Cap Party", found diamonds in 1871 on Colesberg Kopje after he was sent there to dig as punishment.[7] Rawstorne took the news to the nearby diggings of the De Beer brothers, his arrival there sparking off the famous "New Rush", which, as the historianBrian Roberts puts it, was practically a stampede. Within a month, 900 claims were cut into the hillock, which were worked frenetically by two to three thousand men. As the land was lowered, so the hillock became a mine, in time the world-renownedKimberley Mine.[8]: 45–49
TheCape Colony,Transvaal,Orange Free State and theGriqua leaderNicolaas Waterboer all laid claim to the diamond fields. The Free StateBoers in particular wanted the area, as it lay inside the natural borders created byOrange and theVaal Rivers. Following the mediation that was overseen by the Governor ofNatal, the Keate Award went in favour of Waterboer, who placed himself under British protection.[9] Consequently, the territory known asGriqualand West was proclaimed on 27 October 1871.
Naming the place: from Vooruitzigt to New Rush to Kimberley
Colonial Commissioners arrived in New Rush on 17 November 1871 to exercise authority over the territory on behalf of the Cape Governor. Digger objections and minor riots led to GovernorBarkly's visit to New Rush in September the following year, when he revealed a plan instead to have Griqualand West proclaimed aCrown Colony.
Richard Southey would arrive as Lieutenant-Governor of the intended Crown Colony in January 1873. Months passed however without any sign of the proclamation or of the promised new constitution and provision for representative government. The delay was inLondon, whereSecretary of State for the Colonies,John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, insisted that before electoral divisions could be defined, the places had to receive "decent and intelligible names. His Lordship declined to be in any way connected with such a vulgarism as New Rush and as for the Dutch name,Vooruitzigt … he could neither spell nor pronounce it".[8]: 115
The matter was passed to Southey, who gave it to his Colonial Secretary J.B. Currey. Roberts wrote that "when it came to renaming New Rush, [Currey] proved himself a worthy diplomat. He made quite sure that Lord Kimberley would be able both to spell and pronounce the name of the main electoral division by, as he says, calling it 'after His Lordship'". New Rush became Kimberley by a proclamation dated 5 July 1873.[8]: 115
Digger sentiment was expressed in an editorial in theDiamond Field newspaper when it stated "we went to sleep in New Rush and waked up in Kimberley, and so our dream was gone".[8]: 116
Following agreement by the British government on compensation to theOrange Free State for its competing land claims, Griqualand West was annexed to theCape Colony in 1877.[10]
The Cape Prime MinisterJohn Molteno initially had serious doubts about annexing the heavily indebted region, but after striking a deal with the Home Government and receiving assurances that the local population would be consulted in the process, he passed theGriqualand West Annexation Act on 27 July 1877.[8]: 155
As miners arrived in their thousands the hill disappeared and subsequently became known as theBig Hole (orKimberley se Gat in Afrikaans), or, more formally, Kimberley Mine. From mid-July 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg ofdiamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares (42 acres) and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m. Since then, it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m, leaving 175 m visible. Beneath the surface, the Kimberley Mine underneath the Big Hole was mined to a depth of 1097 m. A popular local myth claims that it is the largest hand-dug hole on the world, butJagersfontein Mine appears to hold that record.[11]
The Big Hole is the principal feature of a May 2004 submission that placed "Kimberley Mines and associated early industries" on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative Lists.[12][13]
By 1873, Kimberley was the second-largest town in South Africa, with an approximate population of 40,000.[4]: 34
A sign next to the Big Hole, reading "If all the diamonds recovered from the Kimberley Mine could be gathered together they would fill threecocopans such as these"
Very quickly, Kimberley became the largest city in the area, partly because of a massive African migration to the area from all over the continent. The immigrants were accepted with open arms, because the De Beers company was in search of cheap labour to help run the mines. Another group drawn to the city for money was prostitutes from a wide variety of ethnicities, who could be found in bars and saloons. It was praised as a city of limitless opportunity.[4]: 36
Five big holes were dug into the earth following thekimberlite pipes, which are named after the town. Kimberlite is a diamond-bearing blue ground that sits below a yellow-coloured soil.[4]: 34 The largest, The Kimberley mine or "Big Hole" covering 170,000 square metres (42 acres), reached a depth of 240 metres (790 ft) and yielded threetons of diamonds. The mine was closed in 1914, while three of the holes – Dutoitspan, Wesselton and Bultfontein – closed down in 2005.
On 14 October 1899, Kimberley was besieged at the beginning of theSecond Boer War. TheBritish forces trying to relieve the siege suffered heavy losses. The siege was only lifted on 15 February 1900, but the war continued until May 1902. By that time, the British had built aconcentration camp at Kimberley to houseBoer women and children.[16]
Although a considerable degree of urban segregation already existed, one of the most significant impacts ofapartheid on the city of Kimberley was the implementation of theGroup Areas Act. Communities were divided according tolegislated racial categories: European (White), Native (Black), Coloured and Indian, and legally separated by theProhibition of Mixed Marriages Act. Individual families could be split up to three ways (based on such notorious measures as the 'pencil test'), and mixed communities were either completely relocated (as inMalay Camp – although those clearances began before apartheid as such) – or were selectively cleared (as in Greenpoint, which became a 'Coloured' Group Area, its erstwhile-African and other residents being removed to other parts of town).
Residential segregation was thus enforced in a process that saw the creation of new townships at the northern and north-eastern edges of the expanding city. Institutions that were hard hit by theGroup Areas Act,Bantu Education and other Acts included churches (such as the Bean Street Methodist Church) and schools (some, such as William Pescod andPerseverance School, moved while theGore Browne (Native) Training School was closed down). Otherlegislation restricted the movement of Africans and some public places became 'Europeans Only' preserves in terms of theReservation of Separate Amenities Act. TheNative Laws Amendment Act sought to cleave church communities along racial lines, a law rejected on behalf of all Anglicans in South Africa by ArchbishopClayton in 1957 (in terms of which that aspect of apartheid was never completely implemented in churches such as Kimberley's St Cyprian's Cathedral).[17][18]
Resistance to apartheid in Kimberley was mounted as early as mid-1952, as part of theDefiance Campaign. Dr Arthur Letele put together a group of volunteers to defy the segregation laws by occupying 'Europeans Only' benches at Kimberley Railway Station, which led to arrest and imprisonment. Later that year, theMayibuye Uprising in Kimberley, on 8 November 1952, revolved around the poor quality of beer served in the beer hall. The fracas resulted in shootings and a subsequent mass funeral on 12 November 1952 at Kimberley's West End Cemetery. Detained following the massacre were alleged 'ring-leaders' Dr Letele, Sam Phakedi, Pepys Madibane, Olehile Sehume, Alexander Nkoane, Daniel Chabalala and David Mpiwa.[19] Archdeacon Wade of St Matthew's Church, as a witness at the subsequent inquiry, placed the blame squarely on the policy of apartheid, including poor housing, lighting and public transport, together with "unfulfilled promises", which he said "brought about the conditions which led to the riots".[20]
A later generation of anti-apartheid activists based in Kimberley includedPhakamile Mabija, Bishop Graham Chadwick and two post-apartheid provincial premiers,Manne Dipico andDipuo Peters.Other prominent figures of the struggle against apartheid who had Kimberley connections includeRobert Sobukwe, founder of thePan Africanist Congress, who was banished (placed under house arrest) in Kimberley after his release from Robben Island in 1969. He died in the city in 1978.
Benny Alexander (1955–2010), who later changed his name toKhoisan X and was General Secretary of the Pan Africanist Congress and of the Pan-Africanist Movement from 1989, was born and grew up in Kimberley.
TheNorthern Cape Province became a political fact in 1994 with Kimberley as its capital. Some quasi-provincial infrastructure was in place from the 1940s, but after 1994, Kimberley underwent considerable development as administrative departments were set up and housed for the governance of the new province. A Northern Cape Legislature was designed and situated to bridge the formerly-divided city. The Kimberley City Council of the renamedSol Plaatje Local Municipality (see below) was enlarged. A new coat of arms and motto for the city were ushered in.
With the abolition of apartheid previously 'whites only' institutions such as schools became accessible to all, as did suburbs previously segregated by theGroup Areas Act. In practice, the process has been one of upward mobility by those who could afford the more costly options, but the vast majority of black people remain in the townships, where poverty levels are high.
Major township residential developments, withRDP housing, were implemented not without criticism concerning quality. There has been an increase in Kimberley's population since urbanization has been spurred on in part by the abolition of the Influx Control Act.
Also, the settlement of Platfontein was added when the!Xun and Khwe community, formerly ofSchmidtsdrift and originally from Angola/Namibia, acquired the land in 1996. Most of the newly created community had moved to the new township by the end of 2003.
In 1998, the Kimberley Comprehensive Urban Plan estimated that Kimberley had 210,800 people, representing 46,207 households living in the city.
By 2008, estimates were in the region of 250,000 inhabitants.
The shifts from frontier farm names to digger camp names to the established names of the towns of Kimberley and Beaconsfield, which duly amalgamated in 1912, are outlined above. The only traces of any precolonial settlement within the city's boundaries are scatters ofStone Age artefacts and there is no record of what the place/s might have been called before the first nineteenth century frontier overlay of farm names. It lay beyond the areas occupied byTswana people in the precolonial period.[21] Sites such as the nearbyWildebeest Kuil testify to a Khoe–San history dating up into the nineteenth century.
In the post-1994 era the Kimberley City Council was renamed theSol Plaatje Local Municipality after the area it served was expanded to include surrounding towns and villages, most notablyRitchie.Sol Plaatje, the prominent writer and activist, lived for much of his life in Kimberley. Similarly the erstwhile Diamantveld District Council became theFrances Baard District Municipality, with reference to the trade unionist,Frances Baard, who was born in Greenpoint, Kimberley.
Municipality – The Kimberley borough council assumed a coat of arms in 1878.[22][a] The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in December 1964[23] and at theBureau of Heraldry in February 1968.[24]
The design was a combination of theUnion Jack and the charges from theCape Colony's coat of arms, with a lozenge to represent the diamond-mining industry :Azure, a cross and saltire superimposed Gules both fimbriated Argent, in chief three bezants Or, each charged with a fleur de lis Azure, and in base three annulets Or; on a lozenge Or, superimposed over the fess point, a lion rampant Gules. The motto wasSpero meliora. The arms were depicted on a cigarette card issued in 1931.[25]
The Kimberley divisional council, which administered the rural areas outside the city, registered its own arms at the Bureau in August 1970.[24]
The arms werePer saltire, in chief, barry wavy of six Argent and Azure; in base, Argent, a pale Sable charged with three fusils Argent; dexter, Gules, a shovel and pick in saltire, handles downward, Or; sinister, a staff of Aesculapius, Or. In layman's terms, the shield was divided in four by two diagonal lines, and depicted (1) six silver and blue stripes with wavy edges, (2) a crossed pick and shovel on a red background, (3) a golden staff of Aesculapius, and (4) three silver diamond-shaped fusils on a black vertical stripe on a silver background.
The crest was two crossed rifles in front of an upright sword; the supporters were two kudus; and the motto was "Nitanir semper ad optima".
Kimberley was the initial hub of industrialisation in South Africa in the late 19th century, which transformed the country's agrarian economy into one more dependent on its mineral wealth. A key feature of the new economic arrangement was migrant labour, with the demand for African labour in the mines of Kimberley and later on the gold fields drawing workers in growing numbers from throughout the subcontinent. The labourcompound system, developed in Kimberley from the 1880s, was later replicated on the gold mines and elsewhere.[8]
The city housed South Africa's firststock exchange, the Kimberley Royal Stock Exchange, which opened on 2 February 1881.[8][3]
The rising importance of Kimberley led to one of the earliest South African and International Exhibitions to be staged in Kimberley in1892. It was opened by SirHenry Loch, the then Governor of the Cape of Good Hope on 8 September. It presented exhibits of art, an exhibition of paintings from the royal collection of Queen Victoria and mining machinery and implements amongst other items. The exhibition aroused considerable interest at international level, which resulted in a competition for display space.[citation needed]
South Africa'sfirst school of aviation, to train pilots for the proposed South African Aviation Corps (SAAC), was established in Kimberley in 1913.[29] Known asPaterson's Aviation Syndicate School of Flying, it is commemorated in the Pioneers of Aviation Museum (and replica of the first Compton Patterson Biplane preserved there), situated near to Kimberley airport. In the 1930s Kimberley boasted the best night-landing facilities on the continent of Africa. A major air rally was hosted there in 1934. In the war years Kimberley Airport was commandeered by theUnion Defence Force and run by the 21 Flying School for the training of fighter pilots.[8]
Work on connecting Kimberley by rail to the cities along theCape Colony's coastline began in 1872, under the management of theCape Government Railways.[30] The railway line from Cape Town to Kimberley was completed in 1885, accelerating the transport of both passengers and goods.[8] The railway connected Kimberley with cheaper sources of grain and other products, as well as supplies of coal, so that one of its local impacts was to undercut (mainly African) trade in fresh produce and firewood in Kimberley's hinterland.[31] Another footnote to railway history is its role in the initial rapid spread of the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1918.
The railway reticulation eventually would link Kimberley with Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein. The major junction at De Aar in the Karoo linked early twentieth century lines to Upington (later to Namibia) and to Calvinia. From the 1990s there was a decline in the use of the railways.
Today passenger train services to and from Kimberley are provided bySpoornet'sShosholoza Meyl, with connections south to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and north to Johannesburg. Luxury railway experiences are provided on the main north–south line by the Blue Train andRovos Rail. The central railway station of Kimberley isKimberley railway station.
Wagon and coach routes were developed rapidly as the rush for the diamond fields gathered momentum. Two of the major routes were from the Cape and from Port Elizabeth, the nearest maritime port at the time. Contemporary accounts of the 1870s describe the appalling condition of some of the roads and decry the absence of bridges.[32] From the mid-1880s the route through Kimberley and Mafeking (now Mahikeng) became the main axis of British colonial penetration and it was from Kimberley, along that route, that the Pioneer Column for the settlement of Rhodesia set forth in 1890. Today, however, the central arterial route to the north, theN1 from the Cape to Johannesburg, goes via Bloemfontein, not Kimberley.
Kimberley is located at the intersection of theN12 andN8 national roads.
Today, Kimberley is the seat of the Provincial Legislature for the Northern Cape and the Provincial Administration. It services the mining and agricultural sectors of the region.
The city projects itself as a significant tourist destination, the 'City that Sparkles', boasting a diversity of museums and visitor attractions. It is also a gateway to other Northern Cape destinations including the Mokala National Park, nature reserves and numerous game farms or hunting lodges, as well as historic sites of the region.
Kimberley has hosted significant meetings and conferences, developing a major venue, the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre, and other conference hosting facilities. Recent gatherings have included the founding meeting of theKimberley Process (2000) and a follow-up meeting of this organisation in 2013, and the International Indigenous Peoples Summit on Sustainable Development (2002).
Under theKöppen system Kimberley has asemi-arid climate (BSh) courtesy of its dry winters. Summers are long, wet, and long lasting. Winters are short, mild, and dry with chilly nights.
Climate data for Kimberley, elevation 1,196 m (3,924 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1877–present)
Kimberley is set in a relatively flat landscape with no prominent topographic features within the urban limits. The only "hills" are debris dumps generated by more than a century of diamond mining. From the 1990s these were being recycled and poured back into De Beers Mine (by 2010 it was filled to within a few tens of metres of the surface). Certain of the mine dumps, in the vicinity of the Big Hole, have been proclaimed as heritage features and are to be preserved as part of the historic industrial landscape of Kimberley.
The surrounding rural landscape, not more than a few minutes' drive from any part of the city, consists of relatively flat plains dotted with hills, mainly outcropping basement rock (andesite) to the north and north west, or Karoo age dolerite to the south and east. Shallow pans formed in the plains.
Flamingos on an artificial island inKamfers Dam. This feature was submerged for a time as water levels rose in 2012
One of Kimberley's famous features isKamfers Dam, a large pan north of the city, which is an important wetland supporting a breeding colony oflesser flamingos. Conservation initiatives in the area aim to bring people from the city in touch with its wildlife. In 2012 rising water levels flooded the artificial island built to enhance flamingo breeding, while in December 2013 a local outbreak of avian botulism bacteria resulted in the deaths of hundreds of birds.[42] The island has since re-emerged.
The provincial legislature is situated in the Galeshewe township of Kimberlely
The administration of the Crown Colony ofGriqualand West (from 1873) was conducted from Government Buildings in Kimberley up until the annexation of the Colony to theCape in 1880. At the level of local government, separate Borough Councils operated in Kimberley and Beaconsfield up to the time of their amalgamation as the City of Kimberley in 1912. Thereafter a single City Council regulated the affairs of the city, while a Divisional Council administered the surrounding rural district. In the 1980s, in the last days of apartheid, a separate political entity referred to as Galeshewe (with Mankurwane) was brought into existence with its own council.
The idea of establishing the Northern Cape as a distinct geographic entity dates from the 1940s but it became a political and administrative fact only in 1994, with Kimberley formally becoming the new province's legislative capital.[43] Theprovincial legislature initially occupied the old Cape Provincial Administration building at the Civic Centre before moving into a purpose-built Legislature deliberately situated between one of the townships and erstwhile white suburbs. Kimberley is also the seat of theNorthern Cape Division of theHigh Court of South Africa, which exercises jurisdiction over the province.[44]
Qualitas Career Academy, (Private college). Offers full-time and part-time studies for students, and corporate training and consulting services for businesses and government departments.
Sol Plaatjie University Central Campus, part of which is still under construction.
TheSol Plaatje University opened in Kimberley in 2014, accommodating a modest initial intake of 135 students. Announcing the name for the university, former PresidentJacob Zuma mentioned the development of academic niche areas that did not exist elsewhere, or were under-represented, in South Africa. "Given the rich heritage of Kimberley and theNorthern Cape in general", Zuma said, "it is envisaged that Sol Plaatje will specialise in heritage studies, including interconnected academic fields such asmuseum management,archaeology,indigenous languages, andrestoration architecture".[57][58][59][60]
Sportsground at Sol Plaatje University, South Campus.
TheBig Hole, previously known as the Kimberley Mine Museum, is a recreated townscape and museum, with Big Hole viewing platform and other features, situated next to the Kimberley Mine ("Big Hole"). It houses a rich collection of artefacts and information from the early days of the city.[62]
TheMcGregor Museum, which celebrated its centennial in 2007, curates and studies major research collections and information about the history and ecology of the Northern Cape, which are reflected in displays at the museum's headquarters at the Sanatorium in Belgravia and nine branch museums.
Pioneers of Aviation Museum: In 1913, South Africa's first flying school opened at Kimberley and started training the pilots of the South African Aviation Corps, later to become theSouth African Air Force.[64] The museum is located on the site of that flying school and houses a replica of a Compton Paterson biplane, one of the first aircraft to be used for flight training. The first female on the African continent to receive her pilot's license, Ann Maria Bocciarelli, was trained at this facility.[65]
The Miners' Memorial, also known as the Diggers' Fountain, located in the Oppenheimer Gardens and designed byHerman Wald. It was built in honour of all the miners of Kimberley. The memorial consists of five life-sized diggers lifting a diamond sieve.
TheCenotaph erected originally to commemorate the fallen ofWorld War I, with plaques added in memory of fallen Kimberley volunteers inWorld War II. There is a memorial dedicated to theKimberley Cape Coloured Corps who died in the Battle of Square Hill duringWorld War I. Consisting of a gun captured at the battle, it originally stood in Victoria Crescent,Malay Camp, but, post-1994, was moved to the Cenotaph.
The Concentration Camp Memorial remembers those who were interned in the Kimberley concentration camp during the Second Boer War and is located in front of the Dutch Reformed Mother Church.
TheHenrietta Stockdale statue, byJack Penn, commemorates the Anglican nun, Sister Henrietta CSM&AA (her reinterred remains are buried alongside), who petitioned the Cape Parliament to pass a law recognizing nursing as a profession and requiring compulsory state registration of nurses - a first in the world.
TheSol Plaatje Statue was unveiled by South African PresidentJacob Zuma on 9 January 2010, the 98th anniversary of the founding of theAfrican National Congress. Sculpted by Johan Moolman, it is at the Civic Centre, formerly the Malay Camp, and situated approximately where Plaatje had his printing press in 1910–13.[66]
Dutch Reformed Mother Church Newton is a good example ofStucco architecture in Kimberley. It was declared aNational Monument in 1976, now a Provincial Heritage Site.[67]
Kimberley's older Mosques were replaced by newer ones as a result of the Group Areas Act and the forced resettlement of the city's Muslim communities.
Kimberley Seventh-day Adventist Church is a small L-shaped corrugated-iron building and is considered the mother church of Seventh-day Adventists in South Africa. It was declared aNational Monument in 1967, now a Provincial Heritage Site.[68]
St Cyprian's Anglican Cathedral was designed by Arthur Lindley of the firm of Greatbatch, the building of the nave being completed in 1908. The remainder of the cathedral was completed in stages, partly under guidance ofWilliam M. Timlin (also of the firm of Greatbatch). In 1926 the Chancel was dedicated (and as aWorld War I memorial); in 1936 theLady Chapel, Vestry & new organ were added; and in 1961, the tower (aWorld War II memorial). The cathedral contains notable stained glass windows including works by the Pretoria artistLeo Theron.
St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral.
Synagogue in the Byzantine style designed by D.W. Greatbatch, and based on the synagogue in Florence, Italy.
The earliest newspaper here was theDiamond Field, published initially at Pniel on 15 October 1870. Other early papers with theDiamond News and theIndependent. TheDiamond Fields Advertiser is Kimberley's current daily newspaper, published since 23 March 1878.[69][8]: 173 TheVolksblad, with a free local supplement calledNoordkaap, is read by Afrikaans-speaking readers.
XKfm, based in the !Xun and Khwe settlement of Platfontein, outside Kimberley, and broadcasting in the two KhoeSan languages spoken at Platfontein (!Xun andKhwedam)
Kimberley has contributed to much of cricket's history having supplied several international players. There was Frank (Nipper) Nicholson,Xenophon Balaskas born in Kimberley to Greek parents and Ken Viljoen, Ronnie Draper and in more recent timesPat Symcox and theProteas coachMickey Arthur.
Kimberley hosted a match from the 2003ICC Cricket World Cup. Elsie McDonald was a Springbok bowler.
Kimberley is home to theGriquas rugby team, which has won theCurrie Cup four times in 1899, 1911, 1970, and 2025.Ronnie Bauser an ex-mayor of Kimberley were involved in Griquas rugby for 1950–1971.[70]
Karen Muir, born in Kimberley, became in 1965 the youngest person to break a world record in any sport. This age group record stands to this day.[71] She set it in August 1965 at the junior world champions inBlackpool, England, in the 110 metres (360 ft)backstroke at the age of 12. She went on to break many more world records but was denied a role in world swimming when she lost the opportunity to represent her country at the1968 Olympic games inMexico City as a result of South Africa being excluded for its racial apartheid policies. Kimberley also saw a world record broken in the municipal pool that now bears Muir's name. It wasJohannesburg's Anne Fairlie who beat Karen Muir and Frances Kikki Caron in a time breaking the world record.
The firstMaloof Money Cup World Skateboarding Championships were held in Kimberley in September 2011 and again in 2012. When the Maloof family sponsorship ended in 2013 the event became known as the Kimberley Diamond Cup.[73]
"Kimberley has had a profound effect on the course of history in Southern Africa. The discovery of diamonds there, more than a century ago, proved to be the first step in the transformation of South Africa from an agricultural into an industrial country. When gold and other minerals were later discovered to the north, there were already Kimberley men of vision and enterprise with the capital and technology to develop the new resources". -H.F. Oppenheimer, 1976. Foreword toBrian Roberts's book,Kimberley, Turbulent City.
Anthony Trollope visited Kimberley in 1877 and was notoriously put off by the heat, enervating and hideous, and the dust and the flies of the early mining town almost drove him mad:"I sometimes thought that the people of Kimberley were proud of their flies and their dust".Of the townscape, largely built of sun-dried brick, and of plank and canvas and corrugated iron sheets brought up by ox-wagon from the coast, he remarked:"In Kimberley there are two buildings with a storey above the ground, and one of these is in the square: this is its only magnificence. There is no pavement. The roadway is all dust and holes. There is a market place in the midst which certainly is not magnificent. Around are the corrugated iron shops of the ordinary dealers in provisions. An uglier place I do not know how to imagine".[8]: 159–60
A.H.J. Bourne, a former headmaster ofKimberley Boys' High School, returned to the city in 1937, observing that: "The history of Kimberley would appear remarkable to any stranger who could not fail to think that some supermind was behind its destinies. In so short a time it has grown from bare veld".[74]
In the early 1990s, the writerDan Jacobson returned to Kimberley, where he had grown up in the 1930s, giving a sense of how things had changed:"The people I had known had vanished; so had their language. That contributed to my ghostlike state. In my earliest years the whites of Kimberley spoke English only; Afrikaans was the tongue of the Cape Coloured people.... Now I was addressed in Afrikaans everywhere I went, by white, black, and Coloured alike".[75]
"Kimberley dull?" asked theVirtualtourist reviewer Catherine Reichardt. "Happily, the answer is a resounding 'No', provided that you have a passion for history - in which case Kimberley has it in spades, and you'll probably need to overnight to fully appreciate its attractions and charms. In many ways, exploring Kimberley and its heritage is like experiencing South African history in microcosm".[76]
^The arms are depicted on an illuminated address presented to governor SirBartle Frere in 1879 and one presented to the governor, SirHenry Brougham Loch, in 1890.
^Plaatje Statue unveiled,Diamond Fields Advertiser, 11 January 2010, p 6. (Reports in theSunday Argus andIndependent on Line [10 January 2010 at 12:42PM] incorrectly state that the unveiling of this statue took place in Cape Town)
The Kimberley City Portal - An on-line directory for tourists, travellers and residents of Kimberley. Detailed listings of business, attractions, activities and events with photos, contact information and geo-locations.
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