The Kimberley Club, built for £6,000 in 1881, is on the market for R19.5m, a few million more than its original cost would be worth today: about £780,000, or R17.5m.
The 4,770m² building was advertised through a sole mandate earlier this year. The rates and taxes on the property are estimated to be R16,000.
The club, which opened to members in 1882, survived a wartime siege and burnt down twice. It was the project of diamond tycoon and De Beers founder Cecil John Rhodes.
By the 1880s, the settlement first known as New Rush, then named for Britain’s colonial secretary, John Wodehouse, the Earl of Kimberley, was already a place of stark segregation. Rhodes and his collaborators wanted another level of separation, restricting the club to 250 members as a convivial place to play cards, dine, drink — and scheme. It had an air of exclusivity amid its grubby surroundings.
At the beginning, women and dogs were not allowed. An initial no-smoking rule was amended to allow this for one hour before a meal, since Rhodes and his friend and co-conspirator Leander Star Jameson, leader of the notorious raid in 1895 and later prime minister of the Cape, were avid smokers.
Some of the club’s areas were the scenes of pivotal events in history. In the billiard room — where both fires started — Rhodes and rival magnate Barney Barnato clinched the deal that led to the establishment of De Beers in 1888.
On the club’s veranda, Rhodes and fellow conspirators plotted the invasion of Mashonaland and what became Northern and Southern Rhodesia (eventually the independent states of Zambia and Zimbabwe). Rhodes’s remains are buried in the Matobo Hills in Zimbabwe.
Along with its lurid past, the club has had moments of respectability. It has hosted a range of celebrities, VIPs and royalty over the years. Among the visitors were the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII and later abdicated to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, and his brother and successor, King George VI, along with his family, including the future Queen Elizabeth. During their stay at the club, the Queen Mother left a diamond ring in the bathroom. It was returned to her.
Prominent political and military personalities who enjoyed the club’s hospitality included Lord Randolph Churchill (father of Winston), Lord Kitchener, Sir Alfred Milner and, much later, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
You can move some of the statues and paintings, but the history and ambience will no longer exist
— Kimberley Club board member
The property features 21 en suite bedrooms decorated with period-style furniture and fittings, a dining hall, billiard room and bar. The grand piano in the Bridget Oppenheimer Room creates an air of opulence and aristocracy. The building, which contains many historical artefacts, is a national monument.
Today it serves as a four-star hotel under private ownership and is a venue for conferences, weddings, functions, business meetings and Sunday lunches. Unlike during the South African War, when the city was surrounded by Boer forces, it does not serve horse meat dressed up as veal, as Rhodes did during the siege.
A decision has been made to move the Kimberley Club to the salubrious suburbs of Belgravia, away from the CBD, which has fallen into a state of crime-ridden disrepair.
It has been reported that the club is failing to generate the profits needed to sustain the business. While the identities of board members are not disclosed, it has been learnt that most resolved towards the end of 2025 to sell the building.
A handful of board members, however, believe the situation could be rescued by improving security and requesting the Sol Plaatje municipality to repair streetlights and facilitate a two-way flow of traffic. It’s been argued that the significance of the building would be lost by relocating to new premises.
“You can move some of the statues and paintings, but the history and ambience will no longer exist. The beautiful stained glass windows cannot be transported without being damaged. Once the building is vacated, it will be vandalised and occupied by vagrants like many of the empty buildings in the city,” a board member tells the FM on condition of anonymity.
He suggests that part of the building could be rented to businesses in the CBD to increase income. “This proposal was not supported by the majority of board members.”
The club did not respond to questions about the sale or relocation of the club. — Black Ink News
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