Nama Land & Poverty: Lost Riches of Namibia

A stark contrast exists along South Africa’s remote west coast, where environmental degradation from diamond mining has left the local Nama community impoverished despite the land yielding significant riches.

Nama Land and Diamond Wealth

The 800km (500 mile) journey north from Cape Town begins with views of natural beauty, but transitions into a landscape scarred by the diamond-mining industry as the border with Namibia approaches. The Nama, descended from the indigenous Khoi and San peoples, question what has become of the wealth extracted from their land.

While some of the hundreds of millions earned from mining contributed to the country’s development, little appears to have remained within the affected area. The Nama community, spanning South Africa and Namibia, are the original inhabitants of this region.

Despite winning a legal battle over land and mining rights in the Richtersveld area of Namaqualand more than two decades ago, many in the community argue they have yet to see any benefit.

Economic Decline and Abandoned Mines

Standing amid the ruins of a former mineworks in Alexander Bay, Andries Josephs, a former miner, described the current situation. “There’s no work, that’s the problem. The people have stagnated and everything has gone backwards. The buildings have collapsed. Unemployment is sky-high,” he said.

The diamond industry in the region has declined in recent years, with most gems believed to have been extracted, leaving behind economic and social problems. A nearby residential area consists of a few houses, a damaged church, and a hospital with broken windows, offering basic services.

Local authority development plans highlight dilapidated water and electricity infrastructure and poor roads, hindering access to healthcare.

A History of Dispossession

The discovery of diamonds south of the Orange River in the early 20th century led to a diamond rush, fundamentally changing the land. However, the Nama were already aware of the gems.

“In our family, they used to teach the children to count with diamonds,” said Martinus Fredericks, appointed as the Nama leader in South Africa in 2012. He was tasked with fighting for the return of their ancestral lands.

The area inhabited by the Nama was annexed by the Cape Colony in the mid-19th Century, and after the discovery of diamonds in the 1920s, the Nama were displaced from land around the Orange River. This situation persisted through the apartheid era and continued after the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

The post-apartheid government maintained the position that the diamond wealth should be shared nationally, a decision that dissatisfied the Nama community.

Legal Battles and Unfulfilled Promises

Following a five-year legal battle with the state and Alexkor, a state-owned mining company, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Nama community in 2003. The court affirmed the Nama’s inalienable right to their ancestral land and its mineral resources.

However, in 2007, Alexkor reached a deal with the Richtersveld Communal Property Association (CPA), granting the company 51% of the mineral rights and the community, through the Richtersveld Mining Company, 49%.

Fredericks argues that the CPA did not represent the Nama community and that the agreement was made without their consent. He alleges that after 20 years, they have not profited from the deal or from decades of diamond mining despite the Constitutional Court ruling.

Alexkor disputes this claim, stating that it has paid 190 million rand ($11m; £8.4m) as “reparation” to the Richtersveld Investment Holding Company (RIHC) over three years, as well as 50 million rand ($2.9m) as a development grant.

Dineo Peta, chairperson of Alexkor’s board of directors, acknowledged that the community has not fully benefited economically, attributing this to “maladministration and malfeasance within Alexkor.”

Previous management was subject to investigation by a special commission into “state capture,” with the 2022 report finding evidence of corruption, which is currently under investigation.

Concerns Over Funds and Environmental Damage

At a recent parliamentary hearing, lawmaker Bino Farmer stated that the Select Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Mineral Resources learned that the CPA was “dysfunctional” and that over 300 million rand ($17.6m) had been paid to the CPA without any benefit reaching the community.

The CPA was not present at the hearing but expressed dissatisfaction, stating that national departments had not adequately supported the implementation of the Constitutional Court order.

The BBC attempted to contact the CPA for comment but received no response.

“We should have been in a much better position because we are the original custodians of the land,” Fredericks said. He has initiated legal action against the CPA, alleging it was not properly constituted.

“A Nama people cannot be a Nama people without control of Nama land. A Nama person cannot be separated from Nama land because of the intrinsic link between the person and the land.”

Beyond the financial concerns, Fredericks expressed concern about the environmental impact of mining. He alleges that companies extract resources and leave without proper rehabilitation, leaving the community to deal with the consequences.

Abandoned mines are visible throughout the region, with little evidence of rehabilitation. Trans Hex, which previously owned a mine in Hondeklipbaai, stated it had fulfilled its legal obligations regarding rehabilitation before selling the site five years ago. De Beers, which has also sold its interests in the area, said it committed 50 million rand ($3m) to support rehabilitation work as part of a 2023 sale agreement.

There are concerns that mining companies are expanding southward along the coast. The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment declined to comment, and the new minister, Willie Aucamp, was not yet able to provide a statement.

Fredericks’s ultimate goal remains clear: “The government should return what is ours.”