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Scars of diamond mining stretch across South Africa's west coast
The 800-kilometre drive north from Cape Town reveals a stark divide: pristine landscapes give way to a devastated, moon-like terrain scarred by decades of diamond extraction. For the indigenous Nama people of Namaqualand, the environmental destruction is matched only by the economic neglect that has followed.
A community abandoned
The Nama, descendants of the Khoi and San peoples, have lived in this region for millennia. Despite a landmark 2003 Constitutional Court ruling affirming their rights to ancestral land and its mineral wealth, many say they have seen little benefit from the billions generated by diamond mining.
Andries Josephs, a former mineworker in Alexander Bay, gestures toward the skeletal remains of a shuttered mine. "There's no work here," he says. "The people are stuck. Everything is falling apart. Unemployment is through the roof."
A short walk from the abandoned site, a handful of houses, a crumbling church, and a hospital with broken windows stand as symbols of the area's decline. Local authorities describe the infrastructure as "dilapidated," with failing water and electricity systems and roads so poor they hinder access to healthcare.
Legal victories, hollow promises
In 2003, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Nama people held inalienable rights to their land and its resources. Yet, four years later, state-owned mining company Alexkor struck a deal with the Richtersveld Communal Property Association (CPA), granting the company 51% of mineral rights while the community received 49%.
Nama leader Martinus Fredericks, appointed by elders in 2012, argues the CPA did not represent the broader community. "We've seen none of the wealth generated here," he says. "The government talks about sharing the benefits, but where are they?"
Alexkor disputes this, stating it has paid 190 million rand ($11 million) in reparations to the Richtersveld Investment Holding Company (RIHC) over three years, along with a 50 million rand ($2.9 million) development grant. However, the company's new chairperson, Dineo Peta, acknowledged that the community has not reaped the full economic benefits, blaming "maladministration and malfeasance" under previous leadership.
A 2022 investigation into "state capture" found corruption within Alexkor, though no convictions have resulted. At a recent parliamentary hearing, lawmaker Bino Farmer revealed that over 300 million rand ($17.6 million) allocated to the CPA had not reached the community. The CPA, which did not attend the hearing, has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Environmental devastation
Beyond financial losses, the Nama people face an ecological crisis. Commercial mining has left vast tracts of land unrehabilitated, with abandoned pits and scarred earth stretching across the landscape. Fredericks accuses companies of exploiting the land and leaving without restoring it. "Our people mined sustainably for generations," he says. "They knew how to take from the land without destroying it."
In Hondeklipbaai, a former Trans Hex mine site now appears deserted. Trans Hex stated it complied with rehabilitation obligations while it held the mining rights but is no longer responsible after selling the site. De Beers, which sold its west coast interests in 2023, committed 50 million rand ($3 million) to rehabilitation but shifted responsibility to the new owners.
The government has offered little clarity. The former environment minister, Dion George, declined to comment, while his successor, Willie Aucamp, said he was not yet prepared to address the issue.
A fight for the future
Fredericks is now pursuing legal action against the CPA, alleging it was improperly constituted and failed to represent the Nama people. "We cannot be Nama without our land," he says. "The land is part of who we are."
With mining companies expanding southward, the community fears further environmental damage. For now, the Nama remain trapped between a legal victory that brought no prosperity and a landscape that bears the irreversible scars of extraction.
