‘We demand the return of all the gold, and diamonds stolen by Britain’
South Africa has demanded the return of the world’s largest known clear-cut diamond – which happens to be part of the Queen’s crown jewels.
African Transformation Movement (ATM) MP Vuyo Zungula has led calls for the diamond, known as the Great Star of Africa, or Cullinan l, to be returned as he believes it doesn’t belong to the UK.
The massive diamond is held on the end of a sceptre that belonged to the Queen and is part of a larger diamond which was gifted to the Royal Family after it was mined in South Africa in 1905 – when the country was under British rule.
Zungula also believes South Africa should sever its Commonwealth ties and have a new constitution.
“SA should now leave the Commonwealth, demand reparations for all the harm done by Britain, draft a new constitution based on the will of the people of SA not the British Magna Carta, and demand the return of all the gold, diamonds stolen by Britain,” he is reported to have said in timeslive.co.za.
Similarly, former ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo said: “The minerals of our country and other countries continue to benefit Britain at the expense of our people.
“We remain in deep, shameful poverty, we remain with mass unemployment and rising levels of crime due to the oppression and devastation caused by her and her forefathers.”
He added: “The Cullinan Diamond must be returned to SA with immediate effect.”
More than 6,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Great Star of Africa to be returned and put in a South African museum.
The Queen will be laid to rest on Monday next to the Duke of Edinburgh in the King George VI memorial chapel at Windsor Castle.
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