Five-year-old girl swallowed by sinkhole in Cape Town, South Africa.

A five-year-old girl has been rescued after being swallowed by a sinkhole at Wetland in the Khayelitsha Township of Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday 3 July 2006. The girl, who has not been named, was reportedly visiting her aunt in the area, when a section of road collapsed beneath her, leading her to fall into the hole and be covered over with sand. Local residents acted quickly, and were able to dig her out with handtools before serious harm occurred. 

A sinkhole which opened up in the Wetlands area of Khayelitsha on Friday 3 July 2026, swallowing a five-year-old girl. Siyavuya Khaya/Cape Argus.

Sinkholes are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides, apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without trace.

However, on this occasion the problem is thought to have been caused by a bulk sewer pipeline which lies beneath the area. The informal settlement at Wetland has been built over this pipeline, which is in a poor state of maintenance, in need of upgrading, and has suffered a number of sinkhole-related problems as sections of the pipeline have collapsed. Officials from the City of Cape Town, which is responsible for the pipeline, report that they expect more collapses on the pipeline, which they struggle to access because of the presence of the settlement.

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Are all known specimens of Homo naledi female?

In 2013 a large number of skeletons belonging to a previously unknown Hominin species were discovered in a newly discovered chamber within the Rising Star Cave System in the Cradle of Humankind at Maropeng, South Africa. This new chamber was named the Dinaledi Chamber (Chamber of the Stars in Sotho), and the new Hominin species was given the name Homo naledi ('naledi' meaning 'star'). A number of subsequent specimens assigned to the same species have been found in nearby chambers. Some of the specimens have been dated to between 335 000 and 236 000 years before the present, although it is possible that the total chronological range of all the specimens is longer.

Homo naledi is an unusual species, with a mosaic of modern and archaic traits. It has a small brain size, more comparable to that of an Australopithecene than an Archaic Human. The bones of the trunk and shoulders of Homo naledi also resemble those of Australopithecenes, yet the hands, lower limbs, and face of the species are far more Human. 

A recent study of the teeth of Homo naledi found that they showed remarkably little variation, and concluded that this might indicate that all known specimens might belong to a single sex. However, estimating the sex of a specimen on bone-or-tooth morphology is a remarkably difficult process, particularly where there isn't a dimorphism (i.e. two consistently different forms) within the known specimens of that species.

Sex determination can also sometimes be achieved using ancient DNA recovered from specimens. However, DNA, while this has been used on some ancient Hominins from cool climates, DNA tends to degrade rapidly in warmer environments, such as South Africa.

In a paper published in the journal Cell on 24 June 2026, a team of scientists led by Palesa Madupe of the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen, the Human Evolution Research Institute at the University of Cape Town, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, present the results of a study in which they assessed the sexes of all known specimens of Homo naledi using palaeoproteomic analysis of dental enamel.

The study focuses on amelogenins, a type of protein which helps to direct the mineralisation of tooth enamel. This the DNA which is used to make this protein is principally found on the X-chromosome, however, unlike many other genes, this has not been lost from the Y-chromosome, with the effect that there are two distinct forms of amelogenin, Amelogenin X, which drives from the version of the gene on the X-chromosome, and which is produced by all Humans, and Amelogenin Y, which is derived from the version of the gene on the Y-chromosome, and which is found only in males (albeit only making up about 10% of the total. This tool has previously been used to determine the sexes of other Pleistocene Hominins, making it a realistic choice for establishing the same in Homo naledi. 

Madupe et al. began by taking surface etchings from four teeth, then processing them. All of the samples yielded the Amelogenin X variant, but none produced Amelogenin Y, indicating that all four were female. The samples were then subjected to a more destructive round of testing, crushing the teeth completely and then analysing the whole sample. This yielded identical results, indicating that the less destructive test was sufficiently reliable.

Location and layout of the Rising Star cave system. (A) Map of South Africa zoomed in (insert), showing the position of the area known as the Cradle of Humankind, approximately 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, where the Rising Star cave system is located. (B) The Rising Star cave system within the Cradle of Humankind. (C) Layout of the Rising Star System and the Dinaledi subsystem and Lesedi Chamber, where all the specimens were recovered, and the photos of the four Homo naledi specimens initially micro-destructively sampled by acid etching, then sectioned for enamel growth analysis and subsequently sampled destructively. Madupe et al. (2026).

Following this success, Madupe et al. carried out an analysis of another nineteen Homo naledi teeth, using the non-destructive method (i.e. using surface etchings, not whole teeth). This included all 20 known Homo naledi specimens within the experiment. The Amelogenin X variant was again found in seventeen specimens, while the Amelogenin Y variant was again not detected. Two specimens yielded such low protein levels that they were excluded from the study, although these specimens also yeilded Amelogenin X variant at low levels and no Amelogenin Y variant. The Amelogenin Y variant was detected in all the controls used for the study, which comprised fifteen male Homo sapiens, two male Paranthropus robustus, a male Australopithecus africanus, a male Denisovan, and a male Homo antecessor. 

The Amelogenin X protein found in Homo naledi showed no variation, something which would be considered extra-ordinary in a modern Human population, suggesting that either the species Homo naledi was remarkably genetically homogeneous, or that all of the individuals were very closely related. The individuals come from locations up to 145 m from one another within a complex cave system, and are not thought to have been deposited at the same time, making the former diagnosis more likely.

Madupe et al. identify eighteen confidently identified informative single amino acid polymorphisms on the Hominid Amelogenin X protein, two of which are notably different in Homo naledi and Modern Humans. One of these, a phenylalanine amino acid molecule at position 141 on the protein, is the same as that seen in present day Strepsirrhini (Lemurs, Galagos, Pottos, and Lorises) and Cercopithecidae (Old World Monkeys), but differs from the position in Modern Humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, all of which have a tyrosine amino acid at this point. The second, a proline amino acid at position 635, is the same character state as in all living non-Human Primates, but differs from the situation in Modern Humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, all of which have an alanine amino acid at this point. This location has not been recovered in any Homo antecessor, Homo erectus, or Australopithecus africanus specimen to date, but has been identified in two Paranthropus robustus specimens, both of which both had a proline amino acid in this position.

Analysis of the Amelogenin protein has previously been shown to be a useful way to identify the sex of a variety of Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins. Application of this test to Homo naledi failed to identify any males among the 20 individuals currently known, nor any intra-specific variation on the protein, both highly unusual states. Notably, the study included individual UW 102a, popularly known as 'Neo' (pronounced ney-oh), the most complete Homo naledi specimen known, who has previously identified as male on the basis of a relatively robust skeleton (fortunately, the name Neo, which is Sotho and means 'gift', can be applied to either sex). 

The cranium of Homo naledi specimen popularly known as 'Neo'. Nutcracker Man.

Since the method has previously been applied to individuals from South Africa as much as two million years old, and all of the male controls used within the study were identified as such, Madupe et al. do not believe there was anything wrong with the methodology being used. On this basis, they conclude that the Amelogenin Y variant was not present in any of the specimens, either because they were all female, or because of a mutation which prevented the expression of this protein in male Homo naledi. However, if the previous study on the dentition of Homo naledi is taken into account, it does raise the likelihood of all specimens being female.

Mutations which lead to the deletion or non-expression of the Amelogenin Y protein are known. They are more common in some Human populations than others (in one population in Pakistan, 8% of men did not produce this protein), and has been observed in a Neanderthal individual from Siberia. However, such mutations are typically extremely rare. 

Since there is no reason to believe the sex ratio in living Homo naledi populations was anything other than 1:1, a random accumulation of 20 female specimens is incredibly unlikely. However, such a ratio is not inconsistent with the previously-made suggestion that the presence of Homo naledi specimens in the Rising Star Cave System may have been the result of deliberate mortuary practices rather than a random accumulation. 

The Dinaledi Chamber is notoriously hard to access, to the extent that following its discovery, lead scientist Lee Berger assembled a team of physically small female palaeontologists and archaeologists with caving experience in order to carry our excavation work there. In theory, the cave could have been equally inaccessible to male Homo naledi, leading to a bias in the preservation of individuals there. However, ten of the known individuals are juveniles who died before their second molar erupted, an age at which it is unlikely that sex-related size-differences would have been sufficient to prevent males entering the site.

Exclusively female funerary sites are not known from any Modern Human population. The closest we have are the Neolithic Panoría site in Spain and Edcoural Cave site in Portugal, where females make up 70% and 67% of the population respectively, something which has been thought to reflect the greater importance of females in a matrilineal society. However, the Neolithic inhabitants of Iberia were still Modern Humans, very different to Homo neledi, a Pleistocene Hominin not interpreted to have been closely related to us, and the two groups cannot be expected to have had similar funerary practices (if Homo naledi indeed had these at all).

The expression of archaic amino acid variants in Homo naledi further supports the idea that this species was not closely related to Modern Humans, although the absence of data from archaic Homo species, such as Homo erectus or Homo antecessor, makes it hard to work out how distant a relationship this implies. Gathering such data for more Human and Australopithecene species may help to resolve the phylogentic position of Homo naledi. The less destructive sampling method used by Madupe et al. in this study should make such sampling easier that the earlier form of this technique, which required the destruction of whole teeth, a highly precious resource for extinct Hominins.

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An embryonic Synapsid from the Early Triassic of South Africa.

 The persistence of egg-laying in modern Monotremes has led evolutionary biologists to conclude that this is likely to have been the ancestral state in the Synapsids, the group from which the Mammals arose. However, fossil evidence for this has been surprisingly absent. The earliest known potential fossil amniotic egg comes from the Permian of South America, and has been attributed to a Mesosaurid Sauropsid (a group not closely related to Synapsids of Mammals). This specimen preserves an immature skeleton curled in a position consistent with having been in an egg at the time of death, but no actual eggshell (not altogether surprising, as the earliest amniote eggs are not predicted to have been mineralised). The earliest amniotic egg fossils with both embryonic remains and eggshell come from Sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Early Jurassic of Gondwana. Some potential eggs associated with Synapsid Pelycosaurs from the Early Permian of North America are not considered to be reliable, as neither embryos nor shell structures are preserved.

The Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa's Karoo Basin has produced numerous Dinosaur egg fossils with embryos, as well as the skeletal remains of many non-Mammalian Cynodonts, something which has led to questions about whether Permo-Triassic Synapsids laid eggs at all. This is a serious consideration; Synapsids, particularly groups such as Lystrosaurus and Diictodon, are extremely common in the Permian and Triassic of the Karoo, with perinate specimens (specimens thought to have died around the time of birth or hatching) being found here and elsewhere, but no eggs are known. The preservation of Dinosaur eggs in the Karoo suggests there was no taphonomic process here producing a bias against the preservation of eggs, and palaeontologists have been active in the Karoo Basin for over 180 years, suggesting that if such eggs were present, there should have been a good chance of their being found. Egg-laying and bearing live young are found in closely related Snakes and Lizards, and it appears that this group has been able to switch back-and-forth between these conditions fairly easily. It is therefore conceivably possible that Synapsids developed the ability to bear live young very early in their history, and that Monotremes have secondarily switched back to egg-laying.

However, this has wider implications than Synapsid palaeontology. Current theories on the origin of lactation in Mammals have been built on the assumption that this preceeded the switch to live-birth (largely because Monotremes produce both eggs and milk). It is now generally accepted that the purpose of lactation was not originally to feed the young, but rather started as skin secretions used to either moisturise the eggs, provide nutrients, protect them against fungi and bacterial infections, or for hormonal signalling through the egg membrane. Should it be found that the Synapsids from which Mammals evolved bore live young, then these theories would have to be abandoned.

In a paper published in the journal PLoS One on 9 April 2026, Julien Benoit of the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Vincent Fernandez of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and Jennifer Botha of the Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, describe three perinate specimens of the Dicynodont Synapsid Lystrosaurus from the Early Triassic of Xhariep Municipal District in Free State Province, South Africa, one of which appears to have been preserved within an egg.

The specimens examined are the three smallest specimens attributed to Lystrosaurus. They include BP/1/4011, an isolated skull measuring 43.0 mm, discovered by James Kitching in the upper Palingkloof Member of the Balfour Formation at Orangia on Tweefontein 508, BP/1/9332, an almost complete articulated skeleton with a skull length of 44.0 mm, discovered by Brandon Stuart in the upper Palingkloof Member of the Balfour Formation at Nooitgedacht 68 Farm near Spitskop, and NMQR 3636, a complete skeleton with a skull length of 34.5 mm, found by John Nyaphuli at Rheeboksfontein 5 Farm in 2008, probably from the upper Palingkloof Member of the Balfour Formation or the lower Katberg Formation.Each of these fossils was a scanned at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, with three dimensional models being reconstructed with the Avizo Software Package.

The isolated skull BP/1/4011 was described by Kitching as the smallest known skull attributed to Lystrosaurus in 1964, and attributed to either Lystrosaurus murrayi or Lystrosaurus curvatus by a study in 2006. Benoit et al. are more cautious, attributing it to Lystrosaurus sp. but suggesting it shows affinities to Lystrosaurus curvatus.

The first of the articulated skeletons, BP/1/9332, is considered to be an early juvenile of Lystrosaurus sp., with affinities to Lystrosaurus murrayi. It is preserved in a splayed out position, similar to that of most larger Lystrosaurus specimens from the Karoo Basin, with most bones perfectly articulated, and synchrotron images show that no loose elements are preserved in the surrounding matrix. It appears to be the most developmentally advanced of the three specimens, because its splenials are co-ossified at the mandibular symphysis, although its occipital and basicranial bones remain loose. From the splayed out position in which it was found, Benoit et al. determine that it had hatched before dying, probably moving some distance from its hatching site before death.

Photograph of BP/1/9332 in dorsal view. Benoit et al. (2026).

The final specimen, NMQR 3636, is also considered by Benoit et al. to be an early juvenile of Lystrosaurus sp., with affinities to Lystrosaurus murrayi. However, unlike BP/1/9332, this specimen is curled into a fetal position, consistent with having been within an egg at the time of death. It also appears to be the most developmentally immature of the specimens, lacking tusk buds in its maxillary alveolae, something present in both the other specimens, or a mesethmoid bone, the structure that supports the olfactory bulbs in life, which is again present in the other two specimens. 

Most notably, the lower jaw of NMQR 3636 has an incompletely co-ossified symphyseal suture between the two paired bones in the lower jaw. This is completely co-ossified in both the other specimens, as well as in modern beaked Amniotes such as Turtles and Birds at the time of hatching. Modern Monotremes do hatch with an unfinished intermandibular symphysis, but these feed on milk provided by their mothers for some time after hatching, something Lystrosaurus is not thought likely to have been able to produce. 

Based upon this, Benoit et al. conclude that the early developmental stage of the skeleton, combined with a posture which would be expected of a perinate prior to hatching and a jaw which had not developed to the stage where it could feed on the hard foodstuffs likely to have been consumed by juvenile Lystrosaurus. is indicative of an Animal which died within the egg and was subsequently preserved, albeit without preservation of the egg itself.

Specimen NMQR 3636 in left lateral view. (a) Photograph of the specimen; (b) 3D digital reconstruction of the segmented bones; (c) live reconstruction by artist Sophie Vrard. Colour code for (b): vertebral elements in shades of green, ribs in blue, forelimb elements in red, femur in yellow, pelvic girdle elements in grey, skull in light red, mandible in light orange. Benoit et al. (2026).

Based upon the position of the embryo, it is estimated that the original egg was 3.65 cm long and 2.75 cm in diameter, with an internal mass of 115 cm³ and a mass of 115 g. While size estimates for adult Lystrosaurus vary, this is clearly larger compared to the size of an adult than either living Monotremes or most non-Avian Reptiles, although comparatively smaller than the eggs of Birds. This is probably indicative of a large yolk, which can feed the embryonic Animal for longer, allowing it to develop further within the egg. 

Modern Monotremes produce small eggs compared to the size of an adult, which contain comparatively little yolk material. This is possible because the young hatch at an early developmental stage, and are then nourished with milk. Interestingly, the Jurassic Tritylodontid Cynodont Kayentatherium produced eggs which were even smaller compared to the size of an adult. While Kayentatherium has been reconstructed as being quite Reptile-like in physiology, the small egg size could be a sign that it was capable of a form of lactation. It has also been suggested that Kayentatherium probably had hair, something which is known to be linked genetically to the formation of mammary glands (which produce milk), and it has also been shown that there is a genetic link between the reduction in egg yolk production and the ability to produce milk. All of which suggests that Kayentatherium may have been more Mammal-like than previously reconstructed, and that the appearance of the ability to produce milk may have been closely linked to the emergence of the Mammaliamorpha.

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Three fatalities in Hantavirus outbreak on Dutch cruise ship.

Three people have died and a further five people have been infected in an outbreak of Hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization on 8 May 2026. The disease, which is caused by the Virus Orthohantavirus andesense, is a zoonotic disease (disease with a reserve in a wild Animal population which sometimes spreads to Humans) causing a hemorrhagic or pulmonary fever. It is not easily passed from Human-to-Human, but can do so when people are living together in close conditions in an environment such as a cruise ship.

The outbreak is thought to have begun with an 70-year-old male Dutch national who boarded the ship at Ushuaia, on the Argentinian part of Tierra del Fuego, on 1 April 2026, after spending three months touring Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. This patient developed symptoms at sea, and died on 11 April before the ship reached any port. He is considered a probable case, as no microbiological tests were carried out. 

The MV Hondius, a 106.7 m Polar Class 6 vessel, designed for luxury touring in polar regions with a minimal environmental impact, which was hit by Hantavirus outbreak in April and May 2026. Oceanwide Expeditions.

The second patient to develop the disease was the original patient's 69-year-old widow, who had been travelling with the first patient and joined the ship with him. She developed gastrointestinal symptoms at sea, and left the ship when it arrived at Saint Helena on 24 April, and flew to Johannesburg the following day, where she boarded a flight to Amsterdam, where her condition deteriorated rapidly, causing her to be removed from the plane and moved to a local hospital, where she died on 26 April. She was confirmed as being infected with Orthohantavirus andesense by polymerise chain reaction testing carried out by the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

The third patient, another adult male, started to show symptoms on 24 April, and was evacuated from the ship when it put into Ascension Island on 27 April. This patient was also airlifted to Johannesburg, where he is being treated in an intensive care unit. This patient was also confirmed as being infected with Orthohantavirus andesense by polymerise chain reaction testing.

A fourth patient, and adult female German national, developed a fever on 28 April, while the ship was sailing between Ascension Island and the Cape Verde islands, and died of pneumonia on 2 May, before the ship made it to port. This patient was later confirmed to have died of Hantavirus by post-mortem examination.

The fifth patient, the ship's doctor, began to develop symptoms on 30 April, and was confirmed as having Hantavirus by polymerise chain reaction testing when the ship reached Cape Verde on 6 May, and was airlifted to the Netherlands, where he is currently being treated in an isolation unit. 

The sixth patient, a guide employed on the ship, reported mild respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms on 27 April. He was also diagnosed with Hantavirus infection by polymerise chain reaction testing when the ship reached Cape Verde and airlifted to the Netherlands.

A seventh patient, who disembarked from the ship at St Helena on 22 April and flew home to Switzerland via South Africa and Qatar, began to show symptoms on 1 May. He immediately self-reported to medical authorities in Switzerland, and is now being treated in an isolation unit there.

An eighth patient, who disembarked from the ship at Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic on 14 April, began to show symptoms on 28 April. He is now being treated in isolation, although results of testing for the Virus have yet to be returned.

A ninth patient with Hantavirus-like symptoms was evacuated at Cape Verde and airlifted to Germany, but was later found not to be infected.  Efforts are still being made to trace 32 other patients who disembarked at Saint Helena and dispersed to a variety of countries before the nature of the outbreak was understood. After leaving Cape Verde the ship sailed to the Canary Islands, where it was met by medical personnel from the World Health Organization and a variety of countries, where both passengers and crew were screened for the Virus before being allowed to travel on to their home countries, where they will be required to undergo a period of isolation. A skeleton crew and medical personnel remained on the ship while it was sailed to the Netherlands to be thoroughly disinfected. 

Stops made by the MV Hondius during the outbreak. On 11 May, the ship was en route to Rotterdam. Wikipedia.

A flight attendant on the Johannesburg-Amsterdam flight from which the second patient was removed also later developed symptoms, and was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam. Two Singaporean nationals who had been on the ship and subsequent flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg were tested for the Virus after one developed Hantavirus-like symptoms, but neither was found to be infected. Attempts are still being made to trace passengers from both fights.

Hantavirus infections are caused by triple single-stranded negative-sense RNA Viruses of the genus Orthohantavirus. These Viruses are typically found in Rodents, with 28 species known, each of which infects a different species of Rodent. These Viruses occasionally jump species and infect Humans, where they break down into two groups, Old World Hantaviruses, which can cause a hemorrhagic fever accompanied by a severe kidney infection, and New World Hantaviruses, which cause a severe respiratory disease.

Structure of the Andes Hantavirus. Lexi Schoonover/Hope College/Wikimedia Commons.

The Andes Hantavirus, Orthohantavirus andesense, is found in Long-tailed Pygmy Rice Rats, Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, a wild Rodent found in the southern Andes of Chile and Argentina, where it does not appear to produce any symptoms. It can be transmitted to Humans through the inhalation of  aerosols that contain rodent saliva, urine, or feces, through the consumption of contaminated food, or by being bitten or scratched by a Rat.

A Long-tailed Pygmy Rice Rat, Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, the wild vector of the Andes Hantavirus. Yamil Hussain/Wikimedia Commons.

There is no effective treatment or vaccine for Hantavirus, and the disease is best prevented by using cleanliness and good hygiene to keep Rodents from entering Human dwellings or workplaces. If this fails a pest control consultant should be used to remove the Rodents. Placing infected patients in intensive care with fluids and, if necessary, artificial respiration, can help, but even with these precautions about 30% of patients typically die. Patients who have been infected with the disease and survive are generally immune to further infections with the same Virus.

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South African diamond mining company files for bankruptcy after five miners killed in flood.

South African mining company Ekapa Minerals has filed for liquidation following the death of five miners at its Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine at Kimberly in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, on 17 February 2026. The miners have been missing presumed dead since a slurry of water and mud rapidly filled the section of the mine where they were working. The area where the incident occurred was located 890 m below ground, and had only recently been opened up, and life support systems had been installed, but the sudden nature of the flood has led the mine operators to conclude that the incident was not survivable, and, following several days of attempts to reach and clear the site, that there is little hope of recovering the bodies of the lost miners.

A mine rescue team entering the Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine site this week. SABC News.

Floods and inrushes typically occur when miners accidentally break through into pockets of water and gas trapped within rocks. Since such buried waters are often under high pressure due to the weight of rocks above them, they tend to escape into the mine rapidly, and on occasion explosively, leading to a highly dangerous situation in which miners are often rapidly overwhelmed. Such inrushes can also occur when miners encounter flooded disused mineworkings, a danger in areas where mining has occurred for a long time but good records have not been kept. The Ekapa mine had a history of flood inrush events, and the company had been warned by a parliamentary committee in 2025 that steps needed to be taken to avoid future events of this kind.

The Ekapa Joint Shaft Mine site. SABC News.

The closure of the mine is predicted to result in the loss of about 1200 jobs, a crisis for the city of Kimberly, which has a population of just under 97 000 people, and is already suffering from high unemployment rates due to the decline of the diamond industry. Furthermore, workers from the site report that they have not received their salaries for the month of February 2026, placing many of the in a very difficult situation financially. 

Ekapa Minerals purchased the Joint Shaft Mine from mining giant De Beers in 2016, and at the time of closure it was the last surviving diamond mine in Kimberly. In theory, the site could be sold on to another mining company following the liquidation process, but it is unclear if a buyer will be found given the mine's problems and a fluctuating diamond market.

The location of Kimberley in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Google Maps.

Kimberly was founded in the 1870s following the discovery of diamonds in the area, and rapidly became a centre of wealth in the Cape Colony, opening South Africa's first stock exchange in 1881, and becoming the second city in the world to install electric street lighting the following year. However, in recent years the city's mines have closed one-by-one as the industry has become less viable. The long history of mining in the area means that there are no diamonds left close to the surface, and while they can still be found at greater depths, these are generally fairly small, making it hard for these mines to compete with either shallow, open pit mines elsewhere, or artificial lab-grown diamonds.

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