Diamond mines everywhere but Richtersveld town battles poverty

Sanddrift residents struggle to get medication, ambulances, and jobs.

Jacob Joseph is one of about 800 people living in the remote desert town of Sanddrift in the Richtersveld. He has lived in the region all his life, as did his parents and grandparents, he says.

He says he usually waits nearly two months for his chronic medication to arrive via a satellite clinic.

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Sanddrift is only accessible by dirt road. It is about 55km, or nearly an hour’s drive, to the nearest clinic in Alexander Bay and about two hours to the hospital in Port Nolloth, some 100km from Sanddrift.

The distances and bad state of the roads also mean that emergency services like ambulances do not always make it to Sanddrift.

Maintaining the roads should be a priority for the government, says Joseph. “Health is a big problem.”

Read: Municipalities aren’t fixing roads, supplying clean water or keeping the lights on

Despite the many hardships, Joseph is proud of his Nama heritage and the place he calls home.

Jacob Joseph is one of about 800 people living in Sanddrift. He says he has to wait two months for his medication to arrive because of the poor state of the roads. Image: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

Sanddrift lies on the banks of the Northern Cape’s Orange River, on the border with Namibia. But residents say their clinic is rarely operational, and the ambulance rarely comes.

There is also very little work for locals.

The Richtersveld is a barren and dry landscape that gets very hot in the summer. It is expected to get even hotter because of climate change. According to SANParks, temperatures exceed 35°C for more than a third of the year.

Apart from its rich biodiversity, the Richtersveld is littered with diamond mines. However, these mines have very few economic benefits for the people who live in the region.

Read:
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Zondo Commission has Alexkor in the cross hairs [Jan 2021]
Diamonds and dirty dealings: Alexkor whistleblower testifies [Jan 2021]

The Richtersveld municipality said in its latest annual report that while healthcare facilities are provided by the provincial health department, the municipality tries to support these programmes and “intervene wherever possible”.

The municipality noted that “manpower at community health facilities is a source of concern as well as the lack of emergency services staff and paramedics”.

The Richtersveld is a barren and dry landscape that gets very hot in the summer. Image: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

Anna Slander, born and raised in Sanddrift, said she barely survives on her old age grant of R2 180. Items at the local shop are expensive, and organising transport to shops in Port Nolloth – there is no public transport in Sanddrift – can cost up to R300 for a round trip.

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“The children are not getting any work. And those children stay with us. We are all struggling. It used to be good. But now I ask myself: What has happened to the Richtersveld and to Sanddrif?” said Slander.

There are no recent unemployment statistics available on the Richtersveld from Stats SA. But unemployment has been rising since 2012, according to recent figures provided by the Namakwa district municipality, which includes the Richtersveld and five other local municipalities.

Both the Namakwa district municipality and the Richtersveld municipality have cited downscaling and the closure of some mines as the main factors in unemployment and income loss in the region.

Read: Hydrogen project splits Richtersveld community

Resident Jacobus Farmer said that things have gotten worse over the years with all the surrounding mining.

“Thirty years ago there was a calm community here – a gem,” he said. But now the community has lost its dignity, he said.

Map showing where Sanddrift is in the Richtersveld. Source: Google Maps (fair use)

GroundUp tried many times to contact the Richtersveld municipality and the Northern Cape Department of Health for comment but did not get responses.

Read: Namaqualand communities call for moratorium on all new mining rights

The Richtersveld 2022/27 IDP (integrated development plan) acknowledges some of the concerns raised by the residents. The municipality said, for instance, that the “vast distance” between the Richtersveld towns and so many rural households makes service delivery challenging. It added that health services “have major challenges”, specifically emergency services and services during non-business hours.

Trucks working at nearby diamond mines can be seen from the town. Image: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

© 2024 GroundUp. This article was first published here.

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