Kleinzee is a small village situated at the mouth of the Buffels River on the west coast of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, just south of Grootmis along the R355 Regional Route.
Kleinzee is located approximately 72 km south-east of Port Nolloth and 105 km west of Springbok.
The Buffels River which flows through Kleinzee is a dry river bed most of the time, and only flows with heavy rainfall, approximately once every several years.
Bounded by semidesert on three sides and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Kleinzee has a significant underground water table.
The village is serviced by the small Kleinzee Airport. It is a 105 km drive from Springbok and the N7 National Route.
Previously a closed company town, Kleinzee was known for its diamond-mining operations until the 2000s.
Kleinzee falls within Nama Khoi Local Municipality and the Namakwa District Municipality.
History
The town was originally the site of a freehold farm called Kleyne Zee. The name means ‘small sea’, referring to a lagoon at the mouth of the Buffels River.
Jack Carstens was searching the coast (later Diamond Coast) for diamonds when he heard word of their discovery on the grounds of Kleyne Zee by locals de Villiers and Alberts in 1926. A crater was opened within a week. The farm was owned by the Kotze and Goosen families – the Kotzes farmed the land and the Goosens were fishermen on the lagoon (the “Kleyne Zee”). The families agreed to sell the land before being informed of the presence of diamonds. The Cape Coast Exploration Company bought it in 1927, which was then incorporated into De Beers the following year.
The Namaqualand Mines Division of De Beers established Kleinzee as a private alluvial diamond mining settlement. At its peak, it reportedly had a population of around 4,000 residents. With access from the outside world restricted, Kleinzee was mostly inhabited by middle-class mine workers, managers, and their families.
De Beers covered the residents’ utility bills and invested in amenities such as pools, a golf course and sports fields, and hobby clubs.
The diamonds had begun to run out by the 2000s. The population of Kleinzee generally consisted of around 2,000 residents, but considerably reduced after the down-scaling of mining activities in 2009.
