Similar to the gold miners in California, diamond
miners in South Africa tended to rush to
the latest findings. As a matter of principle,
diamond miners preferred to work by themselves.
However, the scarcity of resourceful
land and the need for a minimum of common
infrastructure forced them to live together in
limited areas. In order to fight off latecomers
and to settle disputes, Diggers Committees
were formed and gave out claims in a region.
Each digger would be allocated one claim, or,
at most, two.