Sibanye agrees on wage deal for its gold operations, union says
On Tuesday, Sibanye reported a nearly 300% increase in third-quarter earnings from its gold operations.
The South African government has launched a formal investigation into claims made on social media of the existence of massive diamonds within easy reach near the town of Ladysmith, about 360 kilometers (224 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.
The country’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy ordered people on Tuesday to halt the search as thousands continue to travel from across South Africa to join villagers who have been digging in the area since Saturday.
The Department noted it was sending a team of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples and conduct an analysis.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government took to Twitter to express its concern on the unprecedented “diamond rush”:
KZN PREMIER CALLS FOR ORDER AMID REPORTS OF A “DIAMOND RUSH” IN KWAHLATHI NEAR LADYSMITH
— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) June 13, 2021
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has noted with concern, the reports of illegal mining activity taking place at KwaHlathi outside Ladysmith
Video : supplied #DiamondRush pic.twitter.com/zy1oyIhPQz
KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala expressed concern about the crowd gathering in the area, saying illegal mining activities could violate covid-19 regulations.
“We are worried that if not brought under control, the situation could result in chaos and a possible stampede,” he said.
In one of the now-viral videos, an unidentified man can be heard speaking in isiZulu and jokingly telling his partner, over the phone, to burn everything at home because he had won big.
“Ngiyakuthanda yazi baby, uBaba seke winile [I love you, baby. Daddy has won],” the man can be heard saying while the crowd in the background laughs.
“Lalela, siyodla eDubai manje [Listen, we’re going to eat in Dubai now].”
Our people have found diamonds in a village in KZN. Can our government NOT stick its sticks fingers in this operation. The PEOPLE SHALL SHARE IN THE COUNTRY’s WEALTH ✊? pic.twitter.com/Uch1sa0BET
— jjsesing (@JjSesing) June 13, 2021
The race to find diamonds shows desperation among people struggling to find income in an economy severely hit by the pandemic. The unemployment rate in Africa’s most-industrialized nation rose to a record 32.6% in the first quarter.
Some people have started selling the stones, with the starting price ranging from 100 rand ($7.29) to 300 rand.
2 Comments
John
From what it looks on the videos of people showing their finds, it’s just quartz cristals. (not so nice ones…). We have plenty of these here.
John
So today they finally confirmed that it was quartz, as I wrote on 16th June… Why did it take so long ? It was obvious, as I said just a look at it and you know that it’s doesn’t look like diamonds at all, but it’s quartz… And I dunno who is the jjsesing twitting sh*t, but he’s an idiot for sure…