Kimberley History: 1914-1945
1914–1945: From Diamonds to War
Kimberley Comes of Age
By 1914, Kimberley was no longer the rough-and-ready mining camp that had sprung up around the discovery of diamonds almost fifty years earlier. The great rush for riches had given way to a mature mining industry, and the city had established itself as one of South Africa's most important commercial and industrial centres.
Its streets were lined with substantial buildings, electric lighting illuminated many public spaces, and rail connections linked Kimberley with the rest of southern Africa. While the excitement of the early diamond discoveries had faded, the city remained at the heart of the world's diamond trade.
As Kimberley entered this new era, one of its most respected citizens was already taking the city's name to the world. In 1914, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje travelled to England as part of a delegation from the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), seeking support against the Natives' Land Act of 1913. Although he would spend much of the next decade abroad, Kimberley always remained his home.
A City Built on Diamonds
In the years prior to 1914, most of the easily accessible diamonds had already been recovered as mining continued on a large-scale industrial basis. The days of thousands of individual diggers working separate claims had disappeared. Instead, large mining companies employed modern engineering techniques to extract diamonds from deep underground.
Steam-powered machinery was gradually supplemented by electrically driven equipment, allowing mines to operate more efficiently than ever before. Vast quantities of ‘blue ground’ continued to be hauled to the surface, crushed and processed in the search for diamonds.
Kimberley had become an industrial city where engineering, geology and skilled labour were just as important as luck. The city's workshops, railways and supporting industries also expanded, providing employment for thousands of people whose livelihoods depended indirectly on diamond mining.
The First World War
When the First World War began in 1914, Kimberley, like the rest of South Africa, found itself drawn into a conflict being fought thousands of kilometres away. Many local men volunteered for military service, while the city's industries supported the broader war effort. Families endured years of uncertainty as news from Europe reached Kimberley by newspaper and telegram.
Kimberley's civic leaders played important roles during the war years. John Orr, merchant, philanthropist and former Mayor, continued to contribute to the city's development. His well-known department store on Jones Street (now Phakamile Mabija Street) became a Kimberley institution, while his support for civic organisations, museums and horticulture reflected a broader commitment to the city's future beyond the diamond mines.
Architect Fergus Carstairs Rogers was another Kimberley resident who answered the call to serve. Already responsible for several of the city's finest public buildings, including the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, he devoted considerable effort to military recruitment during the war and was later appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services.
Although architect Herbert Baker had left South Africa shortly before the First World War, his influence continued to be felt throughout the British Empire. After completing the Honoured Dead Memorial in 1904, at the behest of Cecil John Rhodes, he went on to complete Pretoria's Union Buildings in 1913. Back in England, he designed Rhodes House in Oxford (1928), and South Africa House in London's Trafalgar Square (1933).
Ernest Oppenheimer and a New Era
No individual had a greater influence on Kimberley's future in the early 1900s than Ernest Oppenheimer. Having arrived in Kimberley in 1902 as a young diamond buyer, he soon established himself as one of the city's leading businessmen, serving as Mayor in 1912 and later representing Kimberley in Parliament. During the First World War, Oppenheimer helped establish the Kimberley Regiment and organised labour for the construction of the strategically important railway between Upington and the border with South West Africa.
In 1917, Oppenheimer and American mining engineer William L. Honnold founded the Anglo American Corporation with financial backing from the American financier J. P. Morgan. Although initially established to develop South Africa's gold mining industry, the company would grow into one of the country's largest mining houses. Kimberley, however, remained at the heart of Oppenheimer's ambitions, and he recognised that the city's prosperity depended on a healthy and stable diamond industry.
Despite wartime shortages and disruptions to international trade, diamond mining continued, although global demand fluctuated as economies adjusted to the realities of war. The conflict reminded Kimberley's residents that their city, although geographically distant from Europe, was closely connected to the wider world.
Under Oppenheimer's leadership, Kimberley ceased to be simply the place where diamonds were discovered. Instead, it became the administrative and intellectual centre of the world's diamond industry. Decisions taken in Kimberley increasingly determined the price of diamonds worldwide, giving the city influence far beyond its size.
Life Between the Wars
After the First World War, the diamond industry faced one of its greatest crises. As peace returned, diamond production exceeded global demand. Prices fell sharply, mines struggled to remain profitable, and some operations were forced to close. For a city whose fortunes were so closely tied to diamonds, the consequences threatened businesses, employment and the livelihoods of thousands of Kimberley families.
Oppenheimer believed that the industry's survival depended not on producing more diamonds, but on controlling their supply. Following the business model pioneered decades earlier by Cecil Rhodes, he worked to bring producers together under a single marketing system that could carefully match supply with worldwide demand. In 1926, he joined the board of De Beers Consolidated Mines, and three years later, in 1929, he became its Chairman. From this position, he reshaped the global diamond trade.
Through the Central Selling Organisation (CSO), diamonds from many producers were marketed through a single channel, allowing supplies to be regulated and prices stabilised. While this system effectively created a cartel, it also prevented the uncontrolled oversupply that had repeatedly threatened to destroy the industry's profitability. In 1930, he further strengthened this strategy by founding the Diamond Corporation, bringing even more producers into the system.
These measures were put to the ultimate test when the Great Depression swept across the world following the US Wall Street Crash of 1929. Demand for luxury goods, including diamonds, collapsed almost overnight. Around the world, unemployment rose sharply, international trade declined, and mining companies faced severe financial pressure.
Kimberley inevitably felt the effects. Production was reduced, some mines were temporarily closed, and local families experienced uncertainty and hardship. Yet unlike many mining towns that disappeared when commodity prices collapsed, Kimberley endured. Oppenheimer's policy of restricting production and carefully managing the sale of diamonds prevented an uncontrolled price collapse and allowed the industry to survive until world markets recovered.
Although by the 1930s, the excitement of the diamond rush had long passed, the wealth created by the mines continued to shape everyday life. Schools expanded, sporting clubs flourished, and civic organisations became an important part of the community. Churches, theatres and public parks reflected a city that had grown well beyond its origins as a mining camp.
The Great Depression tested Kimberley's resilience as never before, yet the city emerged with its mining industry intact. By the late 1930s, international demand was improving, and Kimberley remained firmly established as the world's most famous diamond city. The foundations laid by Ernest Oppenheimer during these difficult years would shape not only the future of De Beers but also the fortunes of Kimberley for generations to come.
Kimberley's Railway Lifeline
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Kimberley's railway network remained the city's economic lifeline. Although the closure of the Kimberley Mine in 1914 marked the end of an era, the railways ensured that the city continued to thrive as the commercial and industrial hub of the Northern Cape. Every day, passenger and freight trains connected Kimberley with Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and the wider subcontinent, carrying the people, machinery and goods that kept the city alive.
At the heart of this network stood Kimberley Railway Station, one of the busiest transport centres in the region. Beneath its iron canopies, steam locomotives arrived and departed throughout the day, filling the air with the sounds of whistles, escaping steam and the smell of coal smoke. For many visitors, the station provided their first glimpse of Kimberley, while for local residents, it was the gateway to the rest of South Africa.
Behind Kimberley Railway Station, and in neighbouring Beaconsfield, railway workshops formed an important part of the city's industrial economy. Skilled engineers, fitters, boilermakers and mechanics maintained steam locomotives and rolling stock that operated across the arid landscapes of the Karoo and Kalahari. The workshops provided steady employment for hundreds of railway workers and supported many local families.
Freight traffic reflected Kimberley's unique position as both a mining and agricultural centre. Trains delivered heavy mining equipment, steel, explosives, timber, and vast quantities of coal needed to power the mines and industries surrounding the city. At the same time, livestock from farms across the Northern Cape arrived by rail, then continued to markets elsewhere in South Africa. Every day, goods flowed into and out of Kimberley, reinforcing its role as the region's commercial crossroads.
Before modern telecommunications became commonplace, the railway also carried the city's lifeline to the outside world. Daily mail trains brought newspapers, business correspondence, government documents and personal letters, keeping Kimberley's residents connected with events across South Africa and overseas. During the First and Second World Wars, these trains carried the precious letters exchanged between soldiers serving abroad and the families waiting anxiously at home.
The railways shaped everyday life in Kimberley as much as the diamond mines themselves. The platforms bustled with miners travelling to new postings, businessmen, government officials, farmers, families setting off on holiday, and, during the two World Wars, thousands of soldiers leaving for military service or returning home. Station masters, signalmen, clerks, engineers and maintenance crews worked alongside large numbers of labourers who kept the tracks, sidings and freight yards operating efficiently.
By the 1930s, electric trams had disappeared, but motor cars were becoming increasingly common. Jones Street (now Phakamile Mabija Street) bustled with shoppers, De Beers employees walked between offices and mine compounds, and children played in neighbourhoods that had grown far beyond the original diamond fields.
By the end of the Second World War, Kimberley's railway network had become far more than a means of transport. It was the artery through which the city's commerce, industry and daily life flowed, linking the diamond capital of South Africa with the rest of the country and ensuring that Kimberley remained one of the nation's most important inland centres.
A Day in Kimberley
What was everyday life like in Kimberley between the two World Wars? While world events shaped the city's future, life continued very differently depending on where people lived, the work they did and, above all, the colour of their skin. Kimberley was a prosperous city built on diamonds, but the benefits of that prosperity were shared unequally.
Each weekday morning, children walked to schools across the city, but their opportunities depended largely on race. Schools serving white communities generally enjoyed better funding, facilities and resources, while African, Coloured and Indian children were educated in overcrowded classrooms with far fewer opportunities. Despite these obstacles, education remained highly valued, and many future leaders—including Frances Goitsemang Baard—received their early schooling in Kimberley.
For white shoppers, Jones Street (now Phakamile Mabija Street) offered one of the finest shopping districts in South Africa, with department stores such as John Orr, smaller family businesses, cafés and banks. In contrast, residents of No. 2 Location in Galeshewe township relied largely on local traders and businesses within their own communities, travelling into the city mainly for work or essential shopping. Racial segregation, although not yet formalised under apartheid, increasingly shaped where people could live, work and socialise.
Employment also reflected the divided nature of Kimberley's society. De Beers remained the city's largest employer, but work was allocated along racial lines. White employees generally occupied supervisory, technical and administrative positions, while Black workers performed much of the physically demanding labour in the mines, compounds, railways and municipal services. Their wages, housing and opportunities for advancement differed markedly.
Sport and recreation likewise reflected the realities of segregation. Rugby, cricket, football, athletics, swimming and boxing flourished across Kimberley, but clubs and competitions were usually organised separately for different communities. Nevertheless, sport remained a source of enormous local pride, producing talented players and bringing neighbourhoods together on weekends.
Sundays offered a welcome pause from the working week. Churches were at the heart of community life throughout Kimberley, providing not only places of worship but also schools, choirs, charitable organisations and opportunities for fellowship. In African communities especially, churches often became centres of education, leadership and social support.
Evenings brought entertainment for many residents. Cinemas, dance halls, church concerts and community gatherings were popular throughout the city, while De Beers sponsored sporting clubs and recreational facilities for many of its employees. In No. 2 Location, halls such as the Abantu-Batho Hall (the "People's Hall") became important centres for meetings, performances and political discussion, reflecting a growing awareness of the inequalities that affected everyday life.
By the late 1930s, Kimberley remained one of South Africa's most important cities, but it was also a city of striking contrasts. Wealth generated by diamonds had created impressive public buildings, thriving businesses and modern infrastructure, yet many residents continued to face discrimination, restricted opportunities and growing political exclusion. Those contrasting experiences would shape the leaders, ideas and movements that emerged from Kimberley in the decades that followed.
Kimberley's Voice for Justice
Long before apartheid became official government policy in 1948, Kimberley became home to influential men and women who challenged racial discrimination and helped lay the foundations for South Africa's future democratic society.
With its educated communities, newspapers, churches and political organisations, Kimberley became an important centre for discussion, debate and protest. Several of the city's residents would go on to play significant roles in the struggle for equality and human rights. Two of the city's most influential figures were Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje and Frances Goitsemang Baard.
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje
While Kimberley prospered through its diamond industry, one of its greatest sons was taking the city's name to the world. In 1914, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje travelled to England as part of a SANNC delegation opposing the Natives' Land Act. During the following decade he visited Britain, Canada and the United States, campaigning for the rights of Black South Africans while completing Mhudi and translating several of Shakespeare's plays into Setswana.
Returning permanently to Kimberley in 1923, Plaatje devoted himself to journalism, public speaking and community work. In 1929, grateful citizens presented him with a house in Angel Street, and in 1931, he delivered the opening address at the new Abantu-Batho Hall in Galeshewe, where he passionately defended the rights of families threatened with eviction from Riverton. He died in 1932 and was buried in West End Cemetery. Today, his legacy lives on through his restored home, Sol Plaatje University and the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality.
Frances Goitsemang Baard
While Solomon Plaatje was carrying Kimberley's name onto the international stage, another future leader was quietly growing up in the city. Frances Baard was born in Green Point, Beaconsfield, on 1 October 1909. She attended Racecourse Primary School, Lyndhurst Road School in Malay Camp, and St Cyprian's Perseverance School before training to become a teacher. Seeking employment, Baard left Kimberley for Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), where she found work as a domestic servant. Few could have imagined it at the time that the young woman who left Kimberley would become one of South Africa's most respected political campaigners for workers' rights, women's rights and democracy.
By 1945, both Solomon Plaatje's legacy and Frances Baard's early life illustrated an important truth: Kimberley was producing leaders whose influence extended far beyond the city's diamond mines. The political and social foundations laid during these years would play an increasingly significant role in South Africa's journey towards democracy.
Kimberley During the Second World War
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Kimberley once again contributed to the national war effort. Local residents enlisted in the armed forces, industries supported wartime production and communities organised fundraising campaigns and volunteer initiatives. Newspapers regularly reported on local servicemen and developments overseas.
While life in Kimberley continued, wartime rationing and shortages affected daily routines. Families adapted to changing circumstances while maintaining the essential industries that kept the city's economy functioning. Diamond mining remained important throughout the war years, although production and international trade were influenced by global conditions.
Kimberley had become far more than a mining town. It was an administrative centre for the diamond industry, an important railway junction, a commercial hub for the Northern Cape and a city whose writers, architects, politicians and businessmen influenced South Africa far beyond its population.
By 1945, Kimberley had changed beyond recognition from the rough mining camp founded less than eighty years earlier. It had survived two world wars, the Great Depression, and dramatic changes in the diamond industry. It had produced world-famous writers, businessmen, architects, civic leaders and political thinkers whose influence extended far beyond the Northern Cape.
Few inland cities of comparable size had played such a significant role in shaping the country's economic, political and cultural development. Yet the greatest changes still lay ahead. Over the next forty-five years, Kimberley would become both the headquarters of a global diamond empire under the Oppenheimer family and an increasingly important centre in South Africa's struggle for democracy.
The discovery of diamonds had placed Kimberley on the world map. By 1945, the city's reputation rested as much on its people as on its diamonds.
Continue Exploring Kimberley's Story
Kimberley has one of South Africa's richest and most fascinating histories. Through these pages, The Solomon shares some of the people, places and events that have shaped our city over the past 150 years. We hope these articles encourage you to discover more of Kimberley. And if you're planning a visit, Solomon Edwardian Guest House offers an ideal base from which to explore the city's history, heritage and attractions.
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