The family and descendants of Jakobus Frederik De Beer, who was the first legal owner of the Kimberley diamond fields have during the last week open criminal investigation cases against De Beers Mining, the Oppenheimers and all parties involved.
The family has for many years tried to reach the current De Beers mining owners but were ignored, threatened, and in one specific incident one of the family members were hit by a hail of bullets after leaving the court. He was lucky to survive. This family has decided to appoint a proxy who are now handling this investigation.
According to the family, JF De Beer left a last will and testament which were never concluded. This testament went mysteriously missing in 1886 after his murder. It was only discovered in 1959 in the government archives below the Union buildings in Pretoria. Ever since this discovery the family has made contact with De Beers Mining but to no avail.
Apparently JF De Beer owned the farm Vooruitzicht on which all the diamond mines were situated and where Barney Bernato, Cecil John Rhodes, and the Royal House of England and the Oppenheimers all mined for more than a hundred years.
JF De Beer, according to the family, bought this farm which consisted of a number of farms from Adam Kok, the Griekwa leader, in 1854 just before the Griekwa tribe was relocated to Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal. When Kok learned at the time that the English were going to relocate his tribe he decided to sell his land to the farmers of which JF De Beer was one.
In 1869 the first diamond diggers got their claims from De Beer, one of the biggeste claims were given to German diggers by De Beer, They were chased off these claims after his death by the Royal House. In 1871 the English decided they were entitled to the minerals despite the fact that during the Bloemfontein convention in 1854 they gave independence to both the Free State and Transvaal. At the time Griekwaland West were part of the Free State. A Griekwa with the name Andries Waterboer and plus minus six hundred tribe members were still living in the area, but Waterboer were not the leader, he acted as an agent for Adam Kok. England however saw him as the perfect alibi to get their hands on the diamonds.
They told Waterboer to ask for their protection and to incorporate Griekwaland West into the Cape Province which were ruled over by England at the time. They promised him sovereignty if he would do that. Waterboer signed and for ten days he had his own state. Then England disowned him and the diamonds were in their hands, this treaty were however illegal, Adam Kok had in 1854 already sold the farms to J,F. De Beer and other farmers. This theft and fraud has according to the De Beer family now gone far enough.
De Beer were shot in 1886 outside Pretoria on what is known today as kameeldrift, he died eight days later in hospital, his initial attacker realised he might survive, he was then stabbed to death in hospital. This murder case were never solved. Two of his sons were also shot and killed. His Will and Testament including the inventory were given to a Judge Schutte for safekeeping by his wife. Then the first Boer war broke out, after that his wife went back to Schutte but he was dead and all the papers were missing. Only to be ‘discovered’ in 1959 safely in state hands!
Walter Muller.
For reference, the case numbers are listed below. It was opened at Heidelberg SAP and is being investigated via Kimberley. Kimberley is already in possession of the case.
The case numbers are CAS 77/9/2018 and CAS 78/9/2018.
