A Dubious Moral Beginning

The diamond industry as we know it, started in South Africa after diamonds were discovered in 1871, starting the “diamond rush”. The first industrial-scale diamond mine of its kind was owned wholly by De Beers Mining Company, led at the time by British Imperialist and business magnate, Cecil Rhodes. The rush caused many new immigrants from Europe and the United Kingdom to move to South Africa, looking for diamonds to strike it rich. As the mine expanded, the local African population was “hired” to do the majority of the construction of the mine itself. Uncoincidentally, Many of these local workers were ex-Zulu soldiers of the Zulu Nation, which the British Army defeated in 1879. With their nation formally dismantled by the occupying British Empire, most men had no option but to work in these diamond mines under treacherous working conditions and for little pay.