[imagesource: The Witness]

KwaZulu-Natal’s KwaHlathi village is at the centre of a so-called ‘diamond rush’.

The village, located outside of Ladysmith, has been inundated with visitors looking to strike it rich, with videos and images circulating on social media only further fuelling the fire.

Some believe they have found precious and highly valuable stones, although others say it’s more likely that would-be miners are actually digging up quartz crystals.

Here’s one of the widely circulated clips:

Kuzodliwa e #Dubai pic.twitter.com/MOTGb430Ew

— D i m b a n e (@TheBlackspice) June 13, 2021

In the second video, reports The Witness, the man is definitely counting his chickens before they’ve hatched:

“Tell everyone at home, aunties, uncles and sisters that poverty is now a thing of the past. Look at how rich I am,” the man says as he opens his hand to show the shiny stones.

The same outlet reports that another person could be heard in the background, saying “you are all wasting your time, those are not diamonds.”

Yet another example of dubious use of the word ‘literally’:

pic.twitter.com/jhhm5JpMs3

— Sabza (@SabeloNkabind12) June 13, 2021

Yesterday, KwaZulu-Natal provincial government spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso said the department has “noted with concern, the reports of illegal mining activity taking place at KwaHlathi”:

KZN PREMIER CALLS FOR ORDER AMID REPORTS OF A “DIAMOND RUSH” IN KWAHLATHI NEAR LADYSMITH

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

— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) June 13, 2021

The Department of Minerals and Energy has promised to send a team to the site, and there are also further measures being taken to verify the nature of the find:

[Mabaso] said the second team includes officials from the Council for Geoscience and Mintek, which is the council for Mineral Technology.

The Mintek and GCS teams will include a geologist and will focus on establishing what exactly are these items that have been discovered KwaHlathi…

Premier Sihle Zikalala also weighed in, and talked about safety concerns:

“We are worried that if not brought under control the situation could result in chaos and a possible stampede. We call for order and calm and urge all those involved to cease their operations and vacate the site so as to allow the DMRE to conduct a proper inspection of the site and of what has been discovered there,” Zikalala said.

Maybe if the provincial government wasn’t both inept and corrupt, residents wouldn’t be so desperate for a long shot at something that might lift them out of poverty.

Just a thought.

Zikalala did point out that the large gatherings also posed a COVID-19 risk, and could become super-spreader events.

Now we standby for news from the Mintek and GCS teams.

[source:witness]