Celani Sikhakhane
The people of KwaHlathi area, near Ladysmith in KZN, believe a shiny stone found in the hills will bring the financial hope they’ve been praying for.
The news of the find of the diamond quickly spread after a Lesotho national, who works as a cattle herder, told the community that he’d found a diamond.
Professor Sithole from the eKuvukeni area visited the hill on Saturday, and he, along with many others, found more of these stones.
Sithole told Scrolla.Africa that he could confirm that the stones they had uncovered were in fact diamonds.
“I washed it to confirm my instinct. At the moment I don’t know where I am going to sell it but I know I’m going to be rich from now on,” said Sithole.
Since Friday, people have been flocking to eMbulwane Hill to dig what they believed were diamonds.
No diamonds have ever been uncovered in Ladysmith before.
Local chief Melusi Kunene said he had to call the police to monitor the area and reported the matter to Ingonyama Trust.
“People will end up fighting over those minerals even when no one has confirmed that it is a real diamond,” he said.
He said they are expecting the Minerals Department to come to the area this week.
Ward 12 Councillor Sizwe Simelane, who also tried his luck, said they are waiting for the Provincial Government to deploy a team that will check if there were really diamonds in the area.
“The guy who found this mineral has since disappeared. I think he took his stones to Lesotho because he is nowhere to be found,” he said.
The first significant diamond found in South Africa was found in 1866 by Erasmus Jacobs, a farmer’s son, who collected pretty stones with his friends near the banks of the Orange River – a very long way from the hills of Ladysmith.
