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Article: SAfrica Tribe Regains Diamond-Rich Land
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- October 9, 2007
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Associated Press/AP Online. This material is published under license from the publisher through YellowBrix, Alexandria, Virginia. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to YellowBrix. (Hide copyright information)
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CAPE TOWN, South Africa - An impoverished tribe on Tuesday won back diamond-rich land confiscated by a government mining company more than 80 years ago, ending South Africa's longest running court case.
The Nama lodged their claim to the coastal plain in 1997, three years after the end of white rule, saying they were forced out after mineral rights were awarded to Alexkor Ltd., a state-run diamond mining company set up in 1927 in the town of Alexander Bay as a work program for poor whites.
The goat-herding community was relocated to harsh desert dozens of miles away, where they were beset by unemployment and social problems like alcoholism.
On Tuesday, the government agreed to restore ...