Open Writing

Some history about Namibia, the region and this now relatively famous mining town.

Namibia (South West Africa)

Namibia is a fascinating place. Called ‘The land that God made in anger’ by the early Bushmen due to its harsh environment, it is a country of desert, sand and rock. Hot, dry and dusty, it is an intimidating, desolate landscape wedged between the Kalahari Desert of Botswana further inland to the east and the southern Atlantic Ocean forming its western boundary. The icy South Atlantic Bengeula Current flows northwards along the African west coast from the Antarctic as far as southern Angola.

Along the coastline and running parallel to the sea there is the Namib Desert which means ‘vast’ in the Nama language. It has towering sand dunes, 350 metres high or more, some of the highest in the world. It is a long narrow desert, nearly 2,000 kms long, 200 kms wide in the south and only about 80 kms wide in the north. At 80 million years old, it is possibly the world’s oldest desert.

On the country’s southern border with South Africa is the Orange River. The northern border with Angola is formed by the Kunene River. These two rivers are virtually the only perennial rivers that flow west in Southern Africa.

The country seems to be a landscape of creams, beiges and browns and is a photographer’s and painter’s paradise.

The history of Namibia is just as fascinating.

Colonised by the Germans in the late 1800s, it was a German Protectorate called German South West Africa. The indigenous population, consisting mostly of Herero, Himba, Nama and a few scattered Bushmen, were soon subjugated. Even though the Hereo and Nama fought the Germans in a bloody war for a few years, by 1908 they were completely defeated.

At the beginning of the First World War, South Africa invaded and occupied the territory and in 1920 the country was given to South Africa by the League of Nations to manage as a mandate. This was abolished in 1960 by the UN, which South Africa refused to accept, thus provoking a military struggle between South Africa and a liberation movement called SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation).

In 1990 the political independence of Namibia was finally granted and a democratic constitution drawn up. SWAPO won the first free elections and its leader Dr. Sam Nujoma became the first Namibian President.

The country is home to just over two million people in a land covering some 825,000 sq kms. So it’s relatively thinly populated. It has limited natural resources, but does have small reserves of copper, uranium, gold, silver, lead, tin, zinc and of course larger reserves of diamonds, which is one of its big income earners. Tourism is also becoming an important sector of the economy.

In contrast to its turbulent past, the country has been relatively stable since independence, although there are still issues such as poverty, education and health concerns such as AIDS.

The nearby region

South of Oranjemund and on the South African side of the Orange River is another small diamond mining town called Alexander Bay. The mining diggings which have been going for about 80 years are owned by the South African government.

About 90 kms further south of Alexander Bay is the small port of Port Nolloth. The road passes through a drab, treeless landscape of old mined-out diggings on one side and the occasional glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

The port was originally used for the export of copper during the mid to late 1800s. During the 1920s and 1930s the town flourished from the diamond rush in Alexander Bay and Oranjemund. The town then declined, as the harbour and its outlying reefs were too dangerous for larger vessels, with only fishing being the main activity. The harbour is now only used by small vessels such as fishing and pleasure craft and small vessels employed by the diamond mining industry.

The town has now experienced a second mini boom from the marine diamond industry and is a centre for small-scale diamond recovery and fishing industries.

This corner of the west coast from the Orange River southwards is now becoming known as the ‘Diamond Coast’ due to all the diamond mining activities taking place. Although there is also a ‘Diamond Coast’ in Namibia as well. A bit confusing.

History of the Sperrgebied

Oranjemund and the diamond diggings are located in an area known as the Sperrgebied or prohibited area. German for “Orange Mouth,” Oranjemund is located at the southern end of the Sperrgebied, just over the border with South Africa. Separated by the Orange River, the area is some 30,000 sq kms in area located in the south west corner of today’s Namibia.

There are two diamond mining areas: Area No 1 and Area No 2. Diamond Area No 1 runs from the Orange River in the south to Lüderitz in the north. Diamond Area No 2 runs from Lüderitz to Walvis Bay about halfway up the Namibian coast. Today diamond Area No 2 is part of the Namib Naukluft Park. Even in the 60s and 70s almost all the mining activity was in Diamond Area No 1.

Following the discovery of Namibia’s first diamond near Kolmanskop, just south of Lüderitz, in 1908, sole prospecting and mining rights were granted over an area stretching from the Orange River in the south to north of Lüderitz, some 300 kms long and extending 100 km inland from the coast.
Although diamond mining was confined to the narrow diamondiferous strips along the coastline and Orange River, general public access to the entire licence area was prohibited except with a special permit. Thus years of diamond-related security have provided de facto preservation and today the Sperrgebiet is a pristine wilderness throughout much of its extent, although being opened more and more to eco-tourism and research groups.