Born on 5 July 1853 in Bishop’s Stortford, England, Cecil John Rhodes, was a businessman, politician and one of the most committed imperialists of the 19th Century Southern Africa.
He is the ultimate representation of colonialism and played a dominant role in law restriction and marginalisation of indigenous Africans in the Cape Colony. Being considered as an architect of apartheid.
He believed in British Rule and the superiority of Englishman. He was sure, that it is his God given task to expand the Empire for its glory and the good of all peoples ruled by it.
In his pursuit of this scheme, he was both incredibly successful and ruthless, which brought great deal of controversy at the height of his influence back in in Britain.
His supporters claimed he has brought physical and political infrastructure to South Africa.
The statue of Rhodes in Company's garden Cape Town
In 1867 on the banks of the Orange River northeast of Cape Town a diamond was found. The site proved to have rich deposits of diamonds. It led to an exploitation and large-scale profitable mining of Kimberly. Few years later in an attempt to profit, thousands rushed to the area. These discoveries played a significant part in the growth of the early South African economy.
At the young age, shortly after finishing school Rhodes fell ill and had to leave the country. His father believed that the climate of South Africa can help him recover from the lung and heart disease. Moreover, staying in England didn’t promise such business opportunities.
Rhodes arrived in Durban at the age of 17 in 1870 and at the time had only three thousand pounds given to him as a loan from his aunt. He took an interest in agriculture. In Umkomazi valley in Natal he helped his brother Herbert on the cotton farm, soon to discover the land was unsuitable for cotton eventually the venture failed.
One year later in October, following his brother, Rhodes has left to the diamond fields of Kimberley, where he met John X Merriman and Charles D. Rudd, the latter became his partner in establishing the world’s largest producer and distributor of diamonds.
Over the years of investments, he managed to buy all the smaller diamond mining operations in this area being mainly financed by N M Rothschild & Sons.
In 1783 he returned to England to study at Oriel College Oxford, he managed only for one term and came back to South Africa. In 1876 he has returned for his second term, but continued to prosper in Kimberley. It came to his realisation that due to the changing laws in the area, only the larger companies will be able to operate in the mines.
Together with Charles Rudd, they decided to consolidate a number of mines and bought the costly claim, the Vooruitzicht Farm, that was known as old De Beers. Named after two brothers who previously owned it.
The star of the south Africa source
Despite of a depression in the mining industry in the years 1874-75 the partners assumed that the hard blue ground hides a numerous amount of diamonds, it was situated near the surface, underneath the softer yellow layer. But other technical problems occurred. The water was flooding the mines and needed to be cleared out. Fortunately for them, Rudd managed to get the contract to pump the water out of the three main mines and the serious threat was gone.
They still needed to have a greater control over the production and distribution, to avoid the constant boom and boost of the industry. Rhodes made an offer that his competitor Barney Barnato couldn’t resist, and eventually they launched together The Beers Consolidated Mines mining company in April 1888. the Company owned the largest interest in mines in South Africa, with its 200 000 pounds’ capital. In 1890 The London-based Diamond Syndicate entered the partnership which became strategic in acquiring the monopoly on the most of the world's diamond supply, that led to maintaining high prices by total control of the world supply.
By 1895, at the height of his powers, Rhodes was the unquestioned master of South Africa, ruling over the destiny of the Cape and its white and African subjects, controlling nearly all of the world’s diamonds and much of its gold, and effectively ruling over three colonial dependencies in the heart of Africa.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/cecil-john-rhodes
Rhodes health worsened after the siege of Kimberly town where he was organising the defence during the Anglo-Boer war in 1899. He died in Muizenberg on 26 March 1902 at the age of 48.
In 1902 and 1908 the control of the market got weakened due to the discovery of other diamond mines along the coast of South West Africa in Namibia and Pretoria. The new competitor aggressively grew in power and gained control of the South West Africa mines. Ernest Oppenheimer’s Anglo-American Corporation created a new diamond syndicate in 1925.
He became a chairman of De Beers’s 1929 and strengthened the diamond marketing monopoly.
Rhodes Memorial near the Devils peak Cape Town
Rhodes Memorial near the Devils peak Cape Town
Rhodes was buried in Rhodesia named after him in 1895 at the Matopos Hills, present day Zimbabwe.
He left £6 million (approx USD 960 million in 2015). Many institutions benefited. Part of the funds was used for establishing the world's first international study programme, Rhodes Scholarship for creating an opportunity for students from British colonies, Germany and United States at the Oxford University.
Memorial
Ever since the Kimberley diamond strike of 1868, South Africa has been a world leader in diamond production
The primary South African sources of diamonds, including seven large diamond mines around the country, are controlled by the De Beers Consolidated Mines Company.
South Africa Investment and Business Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information
*Photographs taken by
*Other sources : linked below photographs.
South Africa Investment and Business Guide (World Strategic and Business Information Library) (Volume 1)
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/cecil-john-rhodes
