Diamonds And Dust: 1 - Preface
Malcolm Bertoni worked in the world's largest diamond mine, located along the southern Namibian coast in a remote harshness that was stunning in its beauty.
Today Open Writing begins to serialise his vivid account of his experiences in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"I had no intention of writing this book, especially after so many years had passed,'' says Malcolm. "The reader might ask: why now? Good question. I was recently chatting to a friend from Cape Town and telling him about the things we used to do at this unheard of place called Affenrucken on the coast of the Namib Desert in Namibia. He would crack up laughing when I told him about some of the insane things we did.
“Why don’t you write this stuff down? It sounds like you guys had a ball.”
So here it is.''...
Malcolm's story is told in the vigorous language you would expect of men doing a hard job in severe surroundings.
It's a great read! Watch out for a new episode every Thursday in Open Writing.
Diamonds and Dust:
Stories of a place in the desert
By Malcolm Bertoni
First published 2008
Published by Malcolm Bertoni, Australia
© Copyright Malcolm Bertoni, 2008
All rights reserved.
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This book is dedicated to all the Affenrucken mob, wherever you are.
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Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Bob Dylan, 1964, 1965
Preface
I have a story to tell. Well, a few stories actually. They might not be great stories, but I’m going to tell them anyway. Hopefully there will be a few people that will be interested in them.
This collection of yarns, anecdotes, recollections and reminiscences is about a place, a time and a group of young men. The place is a remote location called Affenrucken in the Namib Desert of southern Namibia. The time covers an eight year period from 1967 to 1974. The group of young men are workers that were employed to work on the world’s largest diamond mine located along the southern Namibian coast in a remote harshness that was also stunning in its beauty.
I had no intention of writing this book, especially after so many years had passed. So the reader might ask: why now? Good question. I was recently chatting to a friend from Cape Town and telling him about the things we used to do at this unheard of place called Affenrucken on the coast of the Namib Desert in Namibia. He would crack up laughing when I told him about some of the insane things we did.
“Why don’t you write this stuff down? It sounds like you guys had a ball.”
So here it is.
It is as truthful as I can remember and I make no apology for not being accurate with names, dates and events. It was all a long time ago and I should have written this all down while I had it fresh in my memory. Hopefully I haven’t made too many errors.
Some events are hazy and not too clear with the passing of time – nearly 35 years in some cases. So these events may not be too precise nor the dates that they occurred; but they are as correct as I can recall and I won’t argue with anyone that says they are not completely accurate. Some of the stories can’t be fully substantiated. But who cares? They make good stories anyway.
I have written the book in the first person, but have tried not to have too much of myself as the central figure. It is a book about other people, not just me. I have also tried to remain true to the spirit and spontaneity of youth and, dare I say it, innocence and naivety. At the time, we all had the whole world to conquer and were not afraid of anything. Such is life.
I hope to return to the place in the book and feel saddened by what has happened since these events described here and yet inspired by what we all experienced in that time. Memories might grow dim, but events can never be removed.
When I started writing this discourse I was surprised by the upwelling of emotion that I felt as I started to record the events that happened that time so long ago. Often I would write a few lines and I would then remember some other occurrence. Emotion is not a bad thing, nor is sentiment.
I have not given the complete names of all the people that I knew; in some cases only their nicknames to protect their identity. The reader will see why.
Note that in 1994 Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) changed its name to Namdeb, and South West Africa became Namibia after independence in 1990.
May 2008
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Glossary:
Bakkie
Afrikaans for utility or pick-up truck.
Blerry
South African way of saying “bloody.”
Boerewors
Farmstyle sausage or wors (literally, “Farmer's Sausage”). A spicy sausage made from beef and pork and spices. It is consumed in vast quantities on braais (bbqs) all over Southern Africa.
Brown hyena - (Hyaena brunnea)
Similar to but smaller than the spotted Hyena, the Brown Hyena live in central Africa south of the Sahara, mostly in the Kalahari and Namib deserts. Called Strandwolf (Beach Wolf) due to its habit of scavenging along the Atlantic shoreline.
Has a long, brown, shaggy coat with lighter under parts, grey to black face and legs, and dark horizontal bars on the legs. Males are larger then females. They weigh from 30 to 40 kg.
Though they live in clans, they do not hunt in groups. They cache food, like foxes. They also carry extra food back to the den to feed the pups.
During the day, the brown hyena sleeps among rocks or tall grass. Otherwise, it may find a burrow, often one left by another animal, such as an aardvark. It emerges at night to find carrion or to hunt prey such as rodents, birds, including poultry, reptiles or wounded large animals. Near the coast, brown hyenas also feed on dead fish, mussels and the stranded carcases of seals and whales. Litters of two to four young are born and are suckled for about three months but remain with their parents for up to 18 months, during which the male brings them food.
Although protected in game reserves, brown hyenas are considered pests because of their habit of attacking livestock, and large numbers have been killed by farmers.
An endangered species, their main threats are from spotted hyenas and lions and of course man.
Piet
Afrikaans for Peter.
Soutie or Soutpiel
Soutie – Salty. An Afrikaans name for the English-speaking South Africans. It is derived from the image of the English having one foot in South Africa and the other in England with something hanging in the water getting salty. Used in a derogatory and insulting context.
UCT
University of Cape Town. The oldest university in South Africa.
(To be continued next week)
