Saturday, 14 June 2008, the Springbucks are playing Wales and we are driving somewhere between Postmasburg and Kimberley, extremely frustrated by bad radio reception of the match. The game has been in progress for fifteen minutes when we pass the security gate of the Ulco lime works, and the discouraging sign: “Employees Only”. Three kilometers further our spirits are lifted, A big signboard advertising cold beer and big screen television appears on the roadside. It is the Delportshoop Hotel, where we find seats among a few farmers, and many more fortune-seeking diamond diggers.
The game is uneventful, so I strike up a conversation with a heavily-built digger. The topic is malaria, which he contracted while traveling with his brother to Zambia. His name is Deon Botha, a local, and a diesel mechanic at one of the bigger digging operations near the confluence of the Harts and Vaal Rivers, in the foothills of the Ghaap Plato. “Sing something Deon”, somebody shouts from the crowd at the bar counter. Without blinking, he turns down the request and asks if we would like to see the diamond diggings..We followed Deon to a very impressive open cast mining operation where huge trenches are being excavated by heavy earth-moving machinery, and mining trucks. Gone are the days of pick and shovel, this is a big operation, where only the fuel bill totals between thirty and fifty thousand Rand a day. “What about the singing back at the bar”, one of us asks? Yes, he studied at Stellenbosch University and continued his studies at Wupperthal in Germany to become an opera singer, and he intends cutting his own compact disc soon, he reveals in a single sentence . “Really” we exclaim, will you sing something for us?
The next minute will remain with us for the rest of our lives. Without hesitation this massive man, Deon Botha, a diamond digger and diesel mechanic from Delportshoop, perched next to a mining truck, takes a deep breath and starts singing the Drinking Song, from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. His voice carries across, the diamond digging, Delportshoop and rolls out across the grassy plains and the Vaal River. We are left speechless, shaking our heads in disbelief and grinning sheepishly.
After the performance Deon produces a container from his pocket, and pours out a few uncut stones in the palm of his hand. The diamonds have been in his pocket all along. “Diamonds, and singing is in my blood”, he says while a big smile lights up his face.
Delportshoop will never be the same for us. Now it has a character, a face and a personality much larger than life.
Delportshoop will never be the same for us. Now it has a character, a face and a personality much larger than life.
A youtube video clip of Deon singing at the digging site will soon be available on the Open Africa Youtube channel.
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