19-23 May 1986: Kimberley – Diamond Capital of the World

May 23, Hillcrest Community, Halfway House, north of Johannesburg 

After a week in Bloemfontein, I took a short flight (less than 100 miles) to Kimberley, located in the northeast corner of South Africa’s large Cape of Good Hope Province (Cape Province, for short).  Kimberley is famous for its diamonds, discovered in 1871, which led to rush by eager prospectors.  Within a month, 900 claims had been filed on the hillside of the first discovery.  In a few years of excavating, the hill became the “Big Hole” which reached a depth of 240 meters by 1914.  Cecil Rhodes, probably best remembered as the founder of Rhodesia and the Rhodes Scholarships, made his fortune in Kimberley.  By 1888, Rhodes and his partners had amalgamated the smaller mining companies into De Beers Consolidated Mines which established a monopoly over the world’s diamond market. 

When I phoned Melvin (“Jack”), the president of the Kimberley Rotary Club, from Bloemfontein, he invited me to stay with him and his wife, Eileen, during my time in Kimberley.  Turns out, he is the general manager of the DeBeers mines in Kimberley.  He and Eileen live in a beautiful home with gardens and a pool.  I was able to sit at a table by the pool and get caught up with my letters regarding my experiences in Bloemfontein the previous week.  The home is provided by DeBeers although Jack pointed out that it is a taxable perk.  They have a maid and gardener (both coloureds, I think) who are on the company payroll and live on the property.  That perk is not taxable.  Eileen drove me all over Kimberley and even made arrangements for me to take a tour of the mine (mining is now entirely underground).

 

I’m writing my letters poolside at the home of the DeBeers Diamond Mine general manager in Kimberley.

 

I attended Rotary Club meetings in both Bloemfontein and Kimberley and found both rather dull.  Almost all members were considerably older than me.  I did have a good laugh when Jack and I exchanged club banners yesterday.  The Kimberley club banner has an image of a diamond on it.  So Jack said, “I want Will to know that this is the only diamond I’ll ever give him.” 

Neither the Bloemfontein nor Kimberley clubs have any black members (although there is one Chinese man in the Kimberley club).  I have been avoiding bringing up the lack of racial diversity at other South African Rotary Clubs I have visited.  However, I decided to raise the issue with Woolfie Joffa, the president of the Bloemfontein club.  I told him I have been disappointed that, with minor exceptions, I had met no non-white Rotarians in South Africa.  I felt that Rotary would be an excellent place to build bridges between the races here.  Certainly, there must be a few non-white business and professional men in their communities who could be introduced into the clubs.

Woolfie said that one of the clubs in Pretoria has a number of non-white members.  However, he felt that blacks generally aren’t interested in joining Rotary.  Even if they were, their wives wouldn’t socialize with white women.  The Rotary Anns (Rotary wives groups) play a big role in the South African clubs.  Woolfie went on to say that he had visited a number of clubs in the U.S., particularly in California, and had never met one black member.  This seems hard to believe, but if it’s true, I’m a little disappointed in American Rotarians.  Certainly it’s not true of the racially/ethnically diverse Summit County, Colorado club where I am a member.

I’m not saying that Rotary clubs should have racial quotas, but it seems to me that an organization that insists on diversity of the professions of its members ought to also encourage diversity in their racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.  Despite my complaints about dull, all-white Rotary meetings I’ve attended in South Africa, I am very grateful to my friend, Jim Bachman, back in Summit County, Colorado for encouraging me to join.  I certainly cannot complain about the hospitality of South African Rotarians!