Diamond mogul Louis Liebenberg lauded for his commitment to developing Namaqualand

Businessman Louis Liebenberg . Photo Supplied

Activist and chief of the Namaland Shaul, Paul Swaartboi, commends diamond mogul Louis Liebenberg for his commitment to see the development of Namaqualand.

This area, incredibly rich in minerals, houses communities that have been left impoverished due to an imbalance in the wealth distribution from the mining industry.

Swartbooi says one of the people who shows deep care for the people of the area is Liebenberg, who continues to invest in the development of the area through his mining activities.

He says the founder of Forever Gold and Tariomix has been helping develop Namaqualand ever since he started mining in the area.

“We are grateful for the development initiatives which are giving our people a sense of pride and joy due to the jobs created by the company.

Swartbooi, who has in the past slammed mining companies for exploiting the Nama people in years gone by, says he is satisfied with the progress being made to include local people in their programmes.

Some of Lebenberg’s business premises were ransacked by the sheriff after liquidators attached furniture items of his Kempton Park business premises. Tariomix, which trades under Forever Diamonds and Gold, was placed into provisional liquidation brought by two investors.

Liebenberg, at the time, slammed the actions of the sheriff after he said they had attached assets of the wrong company.

The resilient inhabitants of Namaqualand, enduring the harsh and unforgiving terrain, have long observed the exploitation of their land’s mineral wealth, with hardly any benefits reaching them.

Historically, multinational corporations, like De Beers, have extracted immense wealth from the mineral-rich soils of Namaqualand. Diamonds, in particular, have proven lucrative for these companies. However, the local communities have barely seen a fraction of these profits. Instead, they’ve been left to grapple with environmental degradation and social displacement as their lands are excavated and their homes displaced.

Recently, a new trend has surfaced in Namaqualand: the rise of artisanal miners, known locally as “diggers”. Driven by desperation and poverty, these individuals have taken the initiative to extract diamonds from the soil using basic tools and techniques.

While Liebenberg fights off ‘’white capital companies’’ and illegal mining, a new “whites-only” settlement is rising in the Northern Cape, and its founder is promising a free 1 000 square metre piece of land to any (white) South African who wants to help “fight against the uprooting of the white race”.

The settlement, named “Eureka”, is situated outside Garies in the Northern Cape. Its founder, Adriaan Alettus Nieuwoudt, describes himself as the official co-ordinator of the Eureka Movement of South Africa.

Eureka is described as a “security town” where people can “securely retire, live and work with their own schools, shops and medical services in their own mother language (Afrikaans) and rural culture”.

According to Nieuwoudt, he bought the piece of land (now known as Eureka) “with his own money during 2016”. He promised on Tuesday to donate a 1 000 square metre plot in Eureka to “each member of the uprooted white race who registered with the Eureka movement”.

“This plot will stay reserved in your name till the end of days. Whether you use it or not, it remains your own place in the land of your birth and is transferable to your heirs. When you start building on the plot, you have to carry building costs, but until then, we cost each other nothing,” a statement by Nieuwoudt reads.

“Eureka is a serious attempt to re-establish our white people in safety. Here we empower the entire white race to independently, for yourself, with our own means, in our own fatherland, build a future. We have already waited too long. No one may prevent us from doing so. In this way, we can again let the white race, without bloodshed, acquire a piece of their birth land.”

Nieuwoudt further explains that Eureka uses reverse osmosis pumps to desalinate groundwater, and eventually seawater.

“This will make a free settlement flourish here,” Nieuwoudt says.

He said that the “movement” had registered 5 000 members by Tuesday.

However, not all comments on the “Garies eerste EUREKA! Veiligheids dorp” Facebook page were positive.

“It is a kite that will dive - the black government will see to that,” Henk Swanepoel said.

Liebenberg, born into an Afrikaaner family of Pentecostal preachers, says he is determined to end all sectoral racism in South Africa. ‘’There must be no place for ‘Afrikaaners only or Zulu only. There must be a place for all of us. My job is about unity. I'm achieving that in Namaqualan. I can achieve throughout this great nation.’’