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THE BEGINNING by Jeffrey Blancq
April 19th, 2006
Power and Money
When people talk about the diamond trade and how it got started in South Africa there are two names that
come immediately to mind. These two names will forever be linked to the South African diamond industry thanks
to their "legendary" twenty eight hours of negotiations for complete control of the South African diamond industry.
Both of these men had wanted for years to amalgamate the diamond industry in South Africa, however due to many
factors this was at first not possible. Thanks to many manoeuvres however, some ethical, and some maybe not
quite so ethical, in the end one of these men was finally able to amalgamate the South African diamond industry.
Both of these men came from different parts of England, an England that at the time had many imperialistic
desires. One of these men shared those same desires along with power, while the other, a street performer
among other things, loved the thought of having lots of money. Who were these two men, and how did they get
started?
Before we answer this question let us go back to where it all began.
Vooruitzigt: the Treasure Chest
The first diamond was discovered by Erasmus Jacobs somewhere between December of 1866, and February 1867.
Young Jacobs age 15 found a transparent stone on his fathers farm that turned out to be a 21-carat diamond.
From there prospecting was slow and laborious, however slowly but surely more and more diamonds began turning up.
In March of 1869 an 83-carat diamond was found.
By the end of 1870 the South African Diamond Rush had begun.
In 1871 the biggest and most famous mine of them all was discovered, the Kimberley Mine.
Nicholaas De Beer had once owned a farm called Vooruitzigt, meaning foresight, near the Vaal
River and close to the small towns of Klipdirft and Pniel.
On this farm back in the early
1870's some perfect diamonds had been found. When this was found out, in those days information
travelled fast and rumours even faster, diggers headed there to open negotiations with De Beer's
son-in-law.
After some tough negotiations the son-in-law finally agreed to let the diggers peg out
claims of 30 ft. by 30 ft.
Little did those diggers know what was about to take place in the summer
of 1871.
In was in this year that the son of a Colesburg magistrate by the name of Fleetwood Rawstone
would change the destiny of the farm that would change the destiny of the entire diamond industry.
Rawstone at the time had a black servant named Damon.
After an evening of excessive drinking
Rawstone threw Damon out of the tent for being disorderly. After a few hours Damon returned
with a handful of beautiful glittering diamonds.
It was said that the effect it had on
Fleetwood and his gang of friends, the Red Cap Party, was electrical. Fleetwood and friends
immediately followed Damon up a hill about twenty feet high.
After allotting claims to each
of his group Fleetwood then allotted himself four claims and called the place Colesburg kopje,
after his hometown.
The Red Caps had intended to keep this "diamond chest" a secret, but yet
again in those days news travelled fast.
It had only taken one day for other diggers to be on the sight.
By noon the next day there were hundreds of diggers hoping that this would be their land of milk and honey.
Digging continued and Colesburg kopje became known as the richest of the fields on Vooruitzigt.
People came from all over, from Russia, the Riviera, America, ex cons, rebels, soldiers, saints,
sinners, you name him and sure enough he was there, digging waiting, and hoping that luck, or just
hard work would pay off. The owner of the farm Nicholaas De Beer began thinking that his son-in-law
had made a terrible mistake. Vooruitzigt had once been a peaceful place away from sin, but now what
had it turned into?
By October of 1871 Vooruitzigt had been sold to a group of investors from Port
Elizabeth for 6,000 Guineas.
That sum was nothing in comparison to what he could have taken.
Nicholaas De Beer no longer owned Vooruitzigt, but his name remained and to this day is celebrated as
the most prestigious name in the diamond industry.
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