1871 in South Africa
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1871_in_South_Africa".

See also: 1870 in South Africa, other events of 1871, 1872 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history.

Events

• An 83.50 carat (16.7 g) diamond is discovered and leads to a diamond rush. The town of New Rush springs up (later renamed Kimberley)
• The Griqua claims to the diamond fields are recognised and the Griqua leader Waterboer seeks British protection
• Britain annexes the diamond fields of Kimberley and Griqua West
• The diamond mining stimulates migrant labour, two thirds of Black workers come from Limpopo valley
• A mail route is established from Cape Town to the diamond fields
• Gold is discovered in Pilgrim's Rest area

Births

• 9 January - Eugène Nielen Marais, lawyer, naturalist, poet and writer, is born in Pretoria

Deaths