Editing History of South Africa (section)

===Discovery of diamonds===
[[File:CecilRhodes.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Cecil John Rhodes, co-founder of De Beers Consolidated Mines at Kimberley]]The first diamond discoveries between 1866 and 1867 were alluvial, on the southern banks of the Orange River. By 1869, diamonds were found at some distance from any stream or river, in hard rock called blue ground, later called [[kimberlite]], after the mining town of [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] where the diamond diggings were concentrated. The diggings were located in an area of vague boundaries and disputed land ownership. Claimants to the site included the South African (Transvaal) Republic, the Orange Free State Republic, and the mixed-race [[Griqua people|Griqua]] nation under [[Nicolaas Waterboer]].<ref>Dougie Oakes, ''Illustrated History of South Africa: The Real Story'', Reader's Digest:Cape Town 1992, p.166 {{ISBN|9781874912279}}</ref> Cape Colony Governor Henry Barkly persuaded all claimants to submit themselves to a decision of an arbitrator and so Robert W Keate, Lieutenant-Governor of Natal was asked to arbitrate.<ref>Oakes (1992), p.168</ref> Keate awarded ownership to the Griquas. Waterboer, fearing conflict with the Boer republic of Orange Free State, subsequently asked for and received British protection. Griqualand then became a separate Crown Colony renamed [[Griqualand West]] in 1871, with a Lieutenant-General and legislative council.<ref>Colin Newbury, "Technology, Capital, and Consolidation: The Performance of De Beers Mining Company Limited, 1880–1889",  ''Business History Review'', Vol 61, Issue 1 Spring 1987, p.3</ref>
The Crown Colony of Griqualand West was annexed into the Cape Colony in 1877, enacted into law in 1880.<ref>Newbury (1987), p.4</ref> No material benefits accrued to the Griquas as a result of either colonisation or annexation; they did not receive any share of the diamond wealth generated at Kimberley. The Griqua community became subsequently dissimulated.<ref>Gearge McCall Theal, ''History of South Africa: 1975 to 1872'', Vol IV, London: Allen & Unwin 1919, pp.224–5</ref>

By the 1870s and 1880s the mines at Kimberley were producing 95% of the world's diamonds.<ref>Diamond Museum, Cape Town, [http://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/south-african-diamond-history/ ''History of Diamonds'']. Accessed 1 June 2015</ref> The widening search for gold and other resources were financed by the wealth produced and the practical experience gained at Kimberley.<ref>John Lang, ''Bullion Johannesburg: Men, Mines and the Challenge of Conflict'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball 1986, pp.7–8 {{ISBN|086850 130 1}}</ref> Revenue accruing to the Cape Colony from the Kimberley diamond diggings enabled the Cape Colony to be granted responsible government status in 1872, since it was no longer dependent on the British Treasury and hence allowing it to be fully self-governing in similar fashion to the federation of [[Canada]], [[New Zealand]] and some of the [[Australian states]].<ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Scramble for Africa'', Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball 1991, p.46 {{ISBN|0-947464-47-6}}</ref> The wealth derived from Kimberley diamond mining, having effectively tripled the customs revenue of the Cape Colony from 1871 to 1875, also doubled its population, and allowed it to expand its boundaries and railways to the north.<ref>Newbury (1987), p.1 citing D Hobart Houghton and Jennifer Dagut (eds), ''Source Material on the South African Economy 1860–1970'', Vol I, Cape Town: 1972, pp.290,346</ref>

In 1888, British mining magnate [[Cecil John Rhodes]] co-founded [[De Beers Consolidated Mines]] at Kimberley, after buying up and amalgamating the individual claims with finance provided by the Rothschild dynasty. Abundant, cheap African labour was central to the success of Kimberley diamond mining, as it would later also be to the success of gold mining on the [[Witwatersrand]].<ref>Cornelius William de Kiewiet, ''A History of South Africa, Social and Economic'', London: Oxford University Press, 1957, p.96</ref><ref>Newbury (1987), p. 3</ref> It has been suggested in some academic circles that the wealth produced at Kimberley was a significant factor influencing the [[Scramble for Africa]], in which European powers had by 1902 competed with each other in drawing arbitrary boundaries across almost the entire continent and dividing it among themselves.<ref>Christopher Oldstone-Moore, [http://www.wright.edu/~christopher.oldstone-moore/imperiallecture.htm The Imperialist Venture], Wright State University. Accessed 24 May 2015</ref><ref>Stacey Greer,[http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/lessons/view_lesson.php?id=21 South African Diamond Mines 1970s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524154746/http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/lessons/view_lesson.php?id=21 |date=24 May 2015 }}, University of California, Davis. Accessed 24 May 2015</ref>