The death of Queen Elizabeth II brought mixed feelings around the world. The historical role of the British monarchy and its relations with its former colonies is one of them. In South Africa, people are debating the return of the world’s largest diamond, owned by the Queen.
Known as ‘The Great Star of Africa’, the gem is 530 carats, mined in South Africa in 1905. It has an estimated value of $400 million.
Reaction
“The Cullinan diamond must be returned to South Africa with immediate effect,” activist Thanduxolo Sabelo told local media, adding: “Minerals from our country and other countries continue to benefit Britain at the expense of our people.”
According to CNN, more than 6,000 people have signed a petition asking for the return of the gem. After sending his condolences to all members of the Royal Family on Twitter, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s message received many posts from South Africans, demanding the return of the Great Star diamond.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, the Cullinan diamond was a gift to King Edward VII in 1907. It was two years after its discovery in a private mine in the former South African province of Transvaal. The Royal Collection Trust oversees the royal collection of the British royal family.
A professor of African politics at the University of South Africa, Everisto Benyera, rejects the narrative. He told CNN that those colonial transactions were illegitimate and immoral. “Our narrative is that all the Transvaal and Union of South Africa governments and the attendant mining unions were illegal,” Benyera said.
“Receiving a stolen diamond does not exonerate the recipient. The Great Star is a blood diamond. Private (mining) business, the Transvaal government and the British Empire were part of a larger web of coloniality.
Leigh-Ann Mathys, national spokesperson for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a South African opposition political party, joined the claim. “We are not asking for its return, as this implies that there was a valid agreement under which the British royal family borrowed the diamond. It is in their possession simply as a result of the colonial tenacity that stifled native people in this country and elsewhere,” Mathys told CNN.
