The 153-year-old town in South Africa that produced 2.1 million carats of diamonds and then collapsed into ruin

• Lichtenburg is still facing severe decline
• The town's decline is attributed to issues with service delivery, mismanagement, and corruption, with the municipality being placed under provincial and national administration multiple times
• The situation remains ineffective, with a parliamentary select committee urging the Minister of Cooperative Governance to adopt a 'whole-of-government' approach to address critical challenges