His job prospects are bleak, he said, because no one wants to hire someone his age.Ī boy approached Khazi and his friend, Thiza Mhayise, with two stones to sell - one for 80 rand and the other for 100. Khazi lost his job of 26 years at a transportation company in December because of the pandemic. “These fat cats, these old crooks, what are they doing? Each and every day you’ll hear about millions stolen.” He added: “The government can’t tell us what to do in this, our ancestors’ land.” “The government can’t tell us anything,” said Lucky Khazi, 61, standing next to a hole where his friends dug. Many snickered at the pleas of government officials, jaded by a history of corruption and colonialism that has seen foreign entities extract lucrative mineral resources from communities, with only a handful of elites in the country benefiting. They also said the informal digging was bad for the environment, destroying vital grazing land.ĭespite the warnings, people kept coming. Government leaders asked people to stop digging and leave, citing concerns about the coronavirus, with South Africa reeling from a third wave of infections. Just days after the rush began, officials visited the site and took samples for testing. “Diamonds! Diamonds!” some people yelled. And there was no shortage of merchants looking to cash in on their newly extracted finds, which they insisted were precious stones. Diamond rush desperation distrust cracked#Music blasted from cars while some people cracked jokes and sipped beer. Vendors sold biscuits, sweet corn kernels and kota - a South African street food of white bread, fries and bologna. Many diamond seekers wrapped themselves in blankets and slept in the holes they dug. They also help explain the long-shot appeal of KwaHlathi and its purported diamonds.Ī satellite village of sorts sprouted here. Those statistics translate into all manner of odd jobs - and risky ones, like venturing into abandoned mines, that have proved deadly. Among young people, the situation is even more dire: About three of every four South African youths are without a job. Unemployment in South Africa is at 32.6%, the highest level recorded since the government began producing quarterly labor force reports in 2008. “As the man of the house, it makes me feel less than,” he said of the difficulty of providing for his three children. Staples like beef, milk and butter were luxuries he could no longer afford. With his job search hitting dead ends, he has been subsisting on social grants totaling less than 1,100 rand ($77) a month, a quarter of what he had earned at the factory. He had been without a job since October when the textile factory where he worked as a supervisor burned down.
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