Two entire towns on a remote stretch of South African coast littered with shipwrecks, diamonds and mine dumps are up for sale.

The problem is nobody is sure how to sell a town — or how to buy one.

At stake is the livelihood of dozens of businesses and access to 140km of Namaqualand coast that until now has been a virtual no-go zone due to mining activity by De Beers.

The company is battling to support the once-bustling mining centres of Kleinzee and Koingnaas, where thousands of people have lost their jobs due to hard times in the diamond trade.

The Times (Johannesburg)