Cecil Rhodes and De Beers Consolidated Company. April Boer children playing –bank of orange river found a pebble-( Diamond) that transformed S. Africa. S. Africa has the richest deposit of diamonds in the world. More deposits were found along the orange river and the Vaal river beginning of the mineral revolution in South Africa with more discovery of huge deposits of diamonds in modern Kimberley in 1869 Diamond fields were found in north of cape colony in the Boer Republic of Orange free state. The people who lived there were Griqua, Tswana, and Kora

Mineral Revolution With discovery,10,000 of speculators all over the world=Europe, America & Australia descended on the area. 1872=miners moved away from the river banks to start digging in the open farm fields. Their numbers soon increased to 40,000 miners whites, colored, and Africans. The richest mine was at Colesberg Kopje (Coles berg hill) modern Kimberly. Here the miners dug the worlds largest man –made hole in the world, The Great hole of Kimberly People organized themselves into small groups they started to purchase mineral claims & dominate the mining industry in South Africa.

Mining Companies British manipulated the situation through false treaties court systems and annexed the area from its inhabitants and pushed the Boers away. So by 1871 Grigualand was a British colony. Initially the mines were dug by individuals using African labor, By late 1870s as water surface increased, individual diggers gave way to mining companies that had capital to buy the machinery that could pump water out. Three men that dominated were Barney Barnato,Alfred Beit & Cecil Rhodes

Formation of De Beers Barnato and Rhodes were rivals who formed large companies by amassing smaller groups. Beit was a German buyer who joined forces with Rhodes and gave Rhodes financial resources of the European Rothchild family to build the mining industry. This gave Rhodes an advantage and forced Barnato to join him or quit. Barnato joined Rhodes to survive, and in 1888, they formed - De Beers Consolidated Company, De Beers had monopoly on diamond production in the region and monopoly of sales in the world.

De Beers Company Bought rival companies out. Due to monopoly in mining, the company paid very low wages and built labor camps where workers were confined for 6 months contract without access to family members. Mining led to increase of population at Kimberly. Led to development of migrant labor from different parts of South Africa. People in S. Africa worked in the mines so as to buy guns and defend their territory from Whiteman's invasion. Kimberley led to development of cash economy in South Africa.

Economic Changes People took to wage labor Others stated intensive farming so as to sell food crops to laborers 1886 Another mineral revolution took place in S. Africa with discovery of huge deposits of gold at Witwatersrand.