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50-747: The plant was the first hydro-electric plant in South Africa and first power plant in Cape Town. It was the second electric power plant in South Africa. The city of Kimberly had power to light up its street lights in 1882. The Graaff Electric Lighting Works power plant was commissioned by the Cape Town City Council in April 1895 after the completion of the Molteno Reservoir that was constructed to help supply potable water to

100-645: A 'Coloured' Group Area, its erstwhile African and other residents being removed to other parts of town). Residential segregation was thus enforced in a process which saw the creation of new townships at the northern and north-eastern edges of the expanding city. Institutions that were hard hit by the Group Areas Act , Bantu Education and other Acts included churches (such as the Bean Street Methodist Church) and schools (some, such as William Pescod and Perseverance School , moved while

150-638: A competition for display space. South Africa's first school of mines was opened here in 1896 and later relocated to Johannesburg , becoming the core of the University of the Witwatersrand . A Pretoria campus later became the University of Pretoria . In fact the first two years were attended at colleges elsewhere, in Cape Town , Grahamstown or Stellenbosch , the third year in Kimberley and

200-497: A depth of 240 metres (790 ft) and yielded three tons of diamonds. The mine was closed in 1914, while three of the holes – Dutoitspan , Wesselton and Bultfontein – closed down in 2005. On 14 October 1899, Kimberley was besieged at the beginning of the Second Boer War . The British forces trying to relieve the siege suffered heavy losses. The siege was only lifted on 15 February 1900, but

250-417: A shovel and pick in saltire, handles downward, Or; sinister, a staff of Aesculapius, Or . In layman's terms, the shield was divided in four by two diagonal lines, and depicted (1) six silver and blue stripes with wavy edges, (2) a crossed pick and shovel on a red background, (3) a golden staff of Aesculapius, and (4) three silver diamond-shaped fusils on a black vertical stripe on a silver background. The crest

300-596: A small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River , on the farm De Kalk leased from local Griquas , near Hopetown , which was his father's farm. He showed the pebble to his father, who then sold it. The pebble was purchased from Jacobs' father by Schalk van Niekerk, who later sold it on again. It proved to be a 21.25-carat (4.3 g) diamond , and became known as the Eureka . Three years later, in 1869, an 83.5-carat (16.7 g) diamond, which became known as

350-603: A vulgarism as New Rush and as for the Dutch name, Vooruitzigt … he could neither spell nor pronounce it." The matter was passed to Southey who gave it to his Colonial Secretary J.B. Currey. Roberts writes that "when it came to renaming New Rush, [Currey] proved himself a worthy diplomat. He made quite sure that Lord Kimberley would be able both to spell and pronounce the name of the main electoral division by, as he says, calling it 'after His Lordship'." New Rush became Kimberley, by Proclamation dated 5 July 1873. Digger sentiment

400-481: A witness at the subsequent inquiry, placed the blame squarely on the policy of apartheid – including poor housing, lighting and public transport, together with "unfulfilled promises" – which he said "brought about the conditions which led to the riots." A later generation of anti-apartheid activists based in Kimberley included Phakamile Mabija , Bishop Graham Chadwick and two post-apartheid provincial premiers, Manne Dipico and Dipuo Peters . Other prominent figures of

450-641: The Bureau of Heraldry in February 1968. The design was a combination of the Union Jack and the charges from the Cape Colony's coat of arms , with a lozenge to represent the diamond-mining industry : Azure, a cross and saltire superimposed Gules both fimbriated Argent, in chief three bezants Or, each charged with a fleur de lis Azure, and in base three annulets Or; on a lozenge Or, superimposed over

500-649: The De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in the United States to integrate electric street lights into its infrastructure. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley, as early as 1881. In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found

550-571: The Gore Browne (Native) Training School was closed down). Other legislation restricted the movement of Africans and some public places became 'Europeans Only' preserves in terms of the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act . The Native Laws Amendment Act sought to cleave church communities along racial lines – a law rejected on behalf of all Anglicans in South Africa by Archbishop Clayton in 1957 (in terms of which this aspect of apartheid

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600-519: The Mayibuye Uprising in Kimberley, on 8 November 1952, revolved around the poor quality of beer served in the beer hall. The fracas resulted in shootings and a subsequent mass funeral on 12 November 1952 at Kimberley's West End Cemetery. Detained following the massacre were alleged 'ring-leaders' Dr Letele, Sam Phakedi, Pepys Madibane, Olehile Sehume, Alexander Nkoane, Daniel Chabalala and David Mpiwa. Archdeacon Wade of St Matthew's Church, as

650-529: The Star of South Africa , was found nearby ( 29°3′S 23°58′E  /  29.050°S 23.967°E  / -29.050; 23.967 ). This diamond was sold by van Niekerk for £11,200, and later resold in the London market for £25,000. Henry Richard Giddy recounted how Esau Damoense (or Damon), the cook for prospector Fleetwood Rawstorne's "Red Cap Party", found diamonds in 1871 on Colesberg Kopje after he

700-530: The 1990s there was a decline in the use of the railways. Today passenger train services to and from Kimberley are provided by Spoornet 's Shosholoza Meyl , with connections south to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and north to Johannesburg. Luxury railway experiences are provided on the main north–south line by the Blue Train and Rovos Rail . The central railway station of Kimberley is Kimberley railway station . Wagon and coach routes were developed rapidly as

750-747: The Big Hole was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. A popular local myth claims that it is the largest hand-dug hole on the world, however Jagersfontein Mine appears to hold that record. The Big Hole is the principal feature of a May 2004 submission which placed "Kimberley Mines and associated early industries" on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative Lists. By 1873, Kimberley was the second largest town in South Africa, having an approximate population of 40,000. The various smaller mining companies were amalgamated by Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd into De Beers , and The Kimberley under Barney Barnato . In 1888,

800-504: The Pan-Africanist Movement from 1989, was born and grew up in Kimberley. The Northern Cape Province became a political fact in 1994, with Kimberley as its capital. Some quasi-provincial infrastructure was in place from the 1940s, but in the post-1994 period Kimberley underwent considerable development as administrative departments were set up and housed for the governance of the new province. A Northern Cape Legislature

850-493: The Provincial Administration. It services the mining and agricultural sectors of the region. Brian Roberts (Historian) Brian Roberts (born 1930, London ) authored numerous historical and biographical works around prominent persons, places and themes shaping South African history. Educated at St Mary's College, Twickenham, and at the University of London , he qualified as a sociologist and

900-584: The area, with regular scheduled flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg . Work on connecting Kimberley by rail to the cities along the Cape Colony 's coastline began in 1872, under the management of the Cape Government Railways . The railway line from Cape Town to Kimberley was completed in 1885, accelerating the transport of both passengers and goods. The railway connected Kimberley with cheaper sources of grain and other products, as well as supplies of coal, so that one of its local impacts

950-452: The city for money was prostitutes, from a wide variety of ethnicities who could be found in bars and saloons. It was praised as a city of limitless opportunity. Five big holes were dug into the earth following the kimberlite pipes, which are named after the town. Kimberlite is a diamond-bearing blue ground that sits below a yellow colored soil. The largest, The Kimberley mine or "Big Hole" covering 170,000 square metres (42 acres), reached

1000-509: The city is the settlement of Platfontein created when the !Xun and Khwe community formerly of Schmidtsdrift and originally from Angola/Namibia acquired the land in 1996. Most of the community had moved to the new township by the end of 2003. In 1998 the Kimberley Comprehensive Urban Plan estimated that Kimberley had 210,800 people representing 46,207 households living in the city. By 2008 estimates were in

1050-490: The city. The plant had two 150 kW generators which could be driven either by steam or water power. Water to power the generators was supplied from the Woodhead Reservoir on Table Mountain . For the twelve months before 30 June 1896 the plant ran for 2590 hours on water power and for 691 hours on coal fired steam power. The plant powered 775 public street lights throughout the city of Cape Town. The plant

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1100-556: The fess point, a lion rampant Gules . The motto was Spero meliora . The arms were depicted on a cigarette card issued in 1931. Divisional council – The Kimberley divisional council, which administered the rural areas outside the city, registered its own arms at the Bureau in August 1970. The arms were: Per saltire, in chief, barry wavy of six Argent and Azure; in base, Argent, a pale Sable charged with three fusils Argent; dexter, Gules,

1150-515: The first Compton Patterson Biplane preserved there), situated near to Kimberley airport. In the 1930s Kimberley boasted the best night-landing facilities on the continent of Africa. A major air rally was hosted there in 1934. In the war years Kimberley Airport was commandeered by the Union Defence Force and run by the 21 Flying School for the training of fighter pilots. Today Kimberley Airport ( IATA : KIM , ICAO : FAKM ) services

1200-630: The first nineteenth century frontier overlay of farm names. It lay beyond the areas occupied by Tswana people in the precolonial period. Sites such as the nearby Wildebeest Kuil testify to a Khoe–San history dating up into the nineteenth century. In the post-1994 era the Kimberley City Council was renamed the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality after the area it served was expanded to include surrounding towns and villages, most notably Ritchie . Sol Plaatje ,

1250-692: The first town in the Southern Hemisphere to install electric street lighting . The rising importance of Kimberley led to one of the earliest South African and International Exhibitions to be staged in Kimberley in 1892 . It was opened by Sir Henry Loch , the then Governor of the Cape of Good Hope on 8 September. It presented exhibits of art, an exhibition of paintings from the royal collection of Queen Victoria and mining machinery and implements amongst other items. The exhibition aroused considerable interest at international level, which resulted in

1300-554: The fourth year in Johannesburg. Buildings were constructed against a total cost of 9,000 pounds with De Beers contributing on a pound for pound basis. South Africa's first school of aviation , to train pilots for the proposed South African Aviation Corps (SAAC), was established in Kimberley in 1913. Known as Paterson's Aviation Syndicate School of Flying , it is commemorated in the Pioneers of Aviation Museum (and replica of

1350-721: The heavily indebted region, but, after striking a deal with the Home Government and receiving assurances that the local population would be consulted in the process, he passed the Griqualand West Annexation Act on 27 July 1877. As miners arrived in their thousands the hill disappeared and subsequently became known as the Big Hole (or Kimberley se Gat in Afrikaans) or, more formally, Kimberley Mine . From mid-July 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug

1400-463: The hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds . The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares (42 acres) and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. Beneath the surface, the Kimberley Mine underneath

1450-633: The intended Crown Colony in January 1873. Months passed however without any sign of the proclamation or of the promised new constitution and provision for representative government. The delay was in London where Secretary of State for the Colonies , John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley , insisted that before electoral divisions could be defined, the places had to receive "decent and intelligible names. His Lordship declined to be in any way connected with such

1500-496: The mines of Kimberley (and later on the gold fields) drawing workers in growing numbers from throughout the subcontinent. The labour compound system developed in Kimberley from the 1880s was later replicated on the gold mines and elsewhere. The city housed South Africa's first stock exchange , the Kimberley Royal Stock Exchange, which opened on 2 February 1881. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley became

1550-468: The more costly options, while by far the majority of Black people remain in the townships where poverty levels are high. Major township residential developments, with ' RDP housing', were implemented – not without criticism concerning quality. There has been an increase in Kimberley's population, urbanization being spurred on in part by the abolition of the Influx Control Act. Also added to

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1600-734: The prominent writer and activist, lived for much of his life in Kimberley. Similarly the erstwhile Diamantveld District Council became the Frances Baard District Municipality , with reference to the trade unionist, Frances Baard , who was born in Greenpoint, Kimberley. Municipality – The Kimberley borough council assumed a coat of arms in 1878. The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in December 1964 and at

1650-699: The public due to security concerns. Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa . It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers . The city has considerable historical significance due to its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war . British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established

1700-450: The rapidly growing city. The plant was named after David de Villers-Graaff who was mayor of Cape Town from 1891 to 1892 and personally funded the construction of the power plant. Costing £75,000 in 1895, equivalent to £10,943,000 in 2024. Graaff was a big proponent of the then relatively new technology of electricity, especially for public lighting . Demand for electricity was driven by the need for street lights to help reduce crime in

1750-402: The region of 250,000 inhabitants. The shifts from frontier farm names to digger camp names to the established names of the towns of Kimberley and Beaconsfield – which duly amalgamated in 1912 – are outlined above. The only traces of any precolonial settlement within the city's boundaries are scatters of Stone Age artefacts and there is no record of what the place/s might have been called before

1800-416: The rush for the diamond fields gathered momentum. Two of the major routes were from the Cape and from Port Elizabeth, the nearest maritime port at the time. Contemporary accounts of the 1870s describe the appalling condition of some of the roads and decry the absence of bridges. From the mid-1880s the route through Kimberley and Mafeking (now Mahikeng) became the main axis of British colonial penetration and it

1850-553: The struggle against apartheid who had Kimberley connections include Robert Sobukwe , founder of the Pan Africanist Congress , who was banished (placed under house arrest) in Kimberley after his release from Robben Island in 1969. He died in the city in 1978. Benny Alexander (1955–2010), who later changed his name to Khoisan X , and was General Secretary of the Pan Africanist Congress and of

1900-646: The territory known as Griqualand West was proclaimed on 27 October 1871. Colonial Commissioners arrived in New Rush on 17 November 1871 to exercise authority over the territory on behalf of the Cape Governor. Digger objections and minor riots led to Governor Barkly's visit to New Rush in September the following year, when he revealed a plan instead to have Griqualand West proclaimed a Crown Colony . Richard Southey would arrive as Lieutenant-Governor of

1950-476: The two companies merged to form De Beers Consolidated Mines , which once had a monopoly over the world's diamond market. Very quickly, Kimberley became the largest city in the area, partly due to a massive African migration to the area from all over the continent. The immigrants were accepted with open arms, because the De Beers company was in search of cheap labour to help run the mines. Another group drawn to

2000-520: The war continued until May 1902. By that time, the British had built a concentration camp at Kimberley to house Boer women and children. The hitherto separately administered Boroughs of Kimberley and Beaconsfield amalgamated as the City of Kimberley in 1912. Although a considerable degree of urban segregation already existed, one of the most significant impacts of Apartheid on the city of Kimberley

2050-648: The world-renowned Kimberley Mine . The Cape Colony , Transvaal , Orange Free State and the Griqua leader Nicolaas Waterboer all laid claim to the diamond fields. The Free State Boers in particular wanted the area, as it lay inside the natural borders created by Orange and Vaal Rivers . Following the mediation that was overseen by the Governor of Natal , the Keate Award went in favour of Waterboer, who placed himself under British protection. Consequently,

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2100-475: Was decommissioned in 1920 and declared a national monument in 1993. The power plant building still stands at the west of the Molteno Dam and is a registered national monument. In 2015 plans were announced to renovate the building so as to house a “Museum for ‘water heritage’”. However officials also stated that since the site sits close to the reservoir it is unlikely that the site will ever be open to

2150-482: Was designed and situated to bridge the formerly divided city. The Kimberley City Council of the renamed Sol Plaatje Local Municipality (see below) was enlarged. A new coat of arms and Motto for the city were ushered in. With the abolition of apartheid previously 'whites only' institutions such as schools became accessible to all, as did suburbs previously segregated by the Group Areas Act . In practice this process has been one of upward mobility by those who could afford

2200-560: Was expressed in an editorial in the Diamond Field newspaper when it stated "we went to sleep in New Rush and waked up in Kimberley, and so our dream was gone." Following agreement by the British government on compensation to the Orange Free State for its competing land claims, Griqualand West was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1877. The Cape Prime Minister John Molteno initially had serious doubts about annexing

2250-711: Was from Kimberley, along that route, that the Pioneer Column for the settlement of Rhodesia set forth in 1890. Today, however, the central arterial route to the north, the N1 from the Cape to Johannesburg, goes via Bloemfontein, not Kimberley. Kimberley is located at the intersection of the N12 and N8 national roads. Today, Kimberley is the seat of the Provincial Legislature for the Northern Cape and

2300-473: Was never completely implemented in churches such as Kimberley's St Cyprian's Cathedral). Resistance to apartheid in Kimberley was mounted as early as mid-1952 as part of the Defiance Campaign . Dr Arthur Letele put together a group of volunteers to defy the segregation laws by occupying 'Europeans Only' benches at Kimberley Railway Station – which led to arrest and imprisonment. Later in the year,

2350-471: Was sent there to dig as punishment. Rawstorne took the news to the nearby diggings of the De Beer brothers – his arrival there sparking off the famous "New Rush" which, as historian Brian Roberts puts it, was practically a stampede. Within a month, 900 claims were cut into the hillock, which were worked frenetically by two to three thousand men. As the land was lowered, so the hillock became a mine – in time,

2400-669: Was the implementation of the Group Areas Act . Communities were divided according to legislated racial categories, namely European (White), Native (Black), Coloured and Indian – now legally separated by the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act . Individual families could be split up to three ways (based on such notorious measures as the ' pencil test ') and mixed communities were either completely relocated (as in Malay Camp – although those clearances began before Apartheid as such) or were selectively cleared (as in Greenpoint which became

2450-586: Was to undercut (mainly African) trade in fresh produce and firewood in Kimberley's hinterland. Another footnote to railway history is its role in the initial rapid spread of the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1918. The railway reticulation eventually would link Kimberley with Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein. The major junction at De Aar in the Karoo linked early twentieth century lines to Upington (later to Namibia) and to Calvinia. From

2500-430: Was two crossed rifles in front of an upright sword; the supporters were two kudus; and the motto was "Nitanir semper ad optima". Kimberley was the initial hub of industrialisation in South Africa in the late nineteenth century, which transformed the country's agrarian economy into one more dependent on its mineral wealth. A key feature of the new economic arrangement was migrant labour, with the demand for African labour in

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