Spoils from the Battle of Dithakong Auctioned in Kimberley – 1878

On 13 August 1878, colonial forces auctioned in Kimberley livestock, wagons, weapons, and other possessions seized after the Battle of Dithakong, also known as Takoon, Litako, or Lattakoo. The sale was one episode in a much larger struggle over land, political authority and control of the diamond-rich Northern Cape. Read more: Kgosi Luka Jantjie.

Did You Know?

Luka Jantjie survived the conflict of the 1870s and remained an important Batlhaping leader. More than twenty years later, he would again resist colonial authority during the Langeberg Rebellion of 1896–1897, alongside other Tswana leaders including Kgosi Galeshewe. His story forms an important counterpoint to the familiar history of Kimberley's diamond pioneers. While fortunes were being made on the diamond fields, African communities across the northern Cape were simultaneously struggling to retain their land, political independence and access to the region's new mineral wealth.

Inaugural Women's Legacy Dialogue – 2010

More than a century later, another important South African event took place on 13 August. The inaugural Women's Legacy Dialogue was held at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg on 13 August 2010, during Women's Month. The gathering brought together approximately 250 women from government, business and civil society to discuss some of the major challenges facing women in South Africa.

Social entrepreneur and business leader Wendy Luhabe and Lynette Finlay, founding director of Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity, convened the dialogue. Discussions included women's role in education, employment and job creation, economic development, income inequality, leadership and the reduction of violence against women. Among those attending were former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, JSE deputy CEO Nicky Newton-King and Airports Company South Africa CEO Monhla Hlahla. A recurring theme was the importance of quality education in transforming society and ensuring that the legacy of South Africa's Women's Day continued beyond annual commemorations.

Did You Know?

South Africa celebrates Women's Month every August, commemorating the historic march of more than 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 August 1956. The march protested against the extension of apartheid pass laws to African women and became one of the defining moments in the history of women's political activism in South Africa.

Kimberley's Story Continues

The auction held in Kimberley on 13 August 1878 reminds us that the story of the Diamond City cannot be understood only through mines, fortunes and famous entrepreneurs. The discovery of diamonds transformed the region, but that transformation also brought conflict over land, political power and access to mineral wealth. Leaders such as Luka Jantjie and Galeshewe form an essential part of that history. Their stories reveal another side of nineteenth-century Kimberley—one experienced by the African communities whose lives were profoundly changed by the arrival of the diamond industry and colonial expansion.