If you’ve been watching the SABC2 series
Shoreline you’ll have heard about
George Moyses, the Diamond Diver.
Semi-retired retired photographer Pat Bromilow-Downing, who loves exploring parts of SA with his camera, met George on one of his walks along the beach at McDougall’s Bay on the wild West Coast.
George, whose recent appearance on TV has elevated his status to something of a local celeb, was being interviewed by Get Away Magazine at the time, but Pat was eventually able to sit down with him and hear his story...
"George Moyses, 57 years of age, is a well-spoken, friendly guy, who has been living in the area for the past 30 years. He earns a living as a diver, extracting diamonds from the sea at various locations along the West Coast. He is passionate about the sea and diving. He is also a keen surfer and windsurfer and enjoys the solitude of living on his own at McDougall’s Bay, in a small house on the beach. (below)
It was near Simons Town that he and a friend salvaged a fishing boat, the Arabian Star, that had sunk without incurring major damage. They restored the vessel, fitted her out and renamed her Blues Breaker, (below) then headed up the West Coast to seek their fortunes.
I’ve watched a video that George made about his work, called “Diamond Divers”, and can say that in my opinion you have to be slightly crazy to do this kind of work. It is incredibly dangerous, with at least 2 divers dying annually. The work is very physical and the hours long – for not much reward. George has been fairly lucky
and only had one major accident, right at the beginning of his career, when he was hit in the face by a propeller.
Diamond divers can of course strike it lucky and have a really good pay day at the end of the month, of maybe R100,000 - but that is an exception, a bit like hitting the lotto. They normally earn about R7 000 to R10 000 per month. These guys carry all the costs and only receive 50% of what they take out. They can only work when weather and sea conditions are favourable, which might be only 10 days of a given month.
George no longer works off his boat but from the shoreline. Converted tractors haul all the pipes, pumps and sifters right on to the rocks. In the video you see them working in the gullies as they look for and extract the gravel that contains the diamonds. I would not last for 10 minutes if I tried to do what they do.
George is a multi-talented guy who supplements his income in different ways. He is a keen photographer and videographer, the video of the diamond divers which he made sells for R100.00. I bought one of the videos and it has some fascinating footage of what these men go through in order to make a living. Most of the divers seen on the video are not young, average age of 50+, and must be extremely tough and fit to survive. Many of the younger, experienced, divers have left for the oil rigs where they earn a good wage and work in far better conditions.
He has converted part of his house into a small museum for which he charges R10.00 a visit and he also makes various articles from driftwood which he sells. He is separated, in a very friendly way, from his wife who lives and works in Port Nolloth and has 3 daughters, the youngest of whom is just about to matriculate.
I gather from the video interviews and what George says, that there is a lot of uncertainty as to how much longer these divers are going to be able to make a living if things do not change. Right now the only ones making money are the mining companies who take 50% off the top – at virtually no cost to themselves."
A big thank you to Pat Bromilow-Downing for allowing us to run this fascinating story of one of South Africa's rough diamonds, and for giving us a glimpse into the life of a fellow countrymen.
You can enjoy more stories and images from Pat's travels around South African on his website, Gone Fishing.
