In Kwahlathi, a village in South Africas KwaZulu-Natal province, over 1,000 people are looking for diamonds after a man dug up an unidentified stone in an open field.

In Kwahlathi, a village in South Africas KwaZulu-Natal province, over 1,000 people are looking for diamonds after a man dug up an unidentified stone in an open field. According to Reuters, people are traveling across South Africa to join the villagers who have been digging since Saturday.

A proper analysis of the stones has yet to be made by the mines department, which is sending a team of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples, but that has not deterred fortune seekers. Young, old, male, female, they are all digging through the soil with picks, shovels and forks in the hopes of finding diamonds that will change their lives.

The Covid-19 pandemic made South Africa’s economy suffering even more as it was already struggling with extremely high levels of unemployment, trapping millions in poverty.

As some of the fortune seekers already started selling the stones, the provincial government requested all those involved to leave the site to allow authorities to conduct a proper inspection, amid fears they are potentially be spreading the coronavirus.

Picture by Reuters