Oranjemund - TOY-finalist 2018

Frank Steffen

The Sperrgebiet (German for a prohibited area) was a diamond mining area in the south of Namibia, where the Orange River serves as southern boundary to South Africa and the Namib Desert meets up with the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The mining town Oranjemund always served as hub for this exclusive diamond mining area, with its total area of 26 000 km². Mining traditionally only took place in roughly 5% of the Sperrgebiet with the remainder acting as a buffer zone, but in the process becoming a refuge for wildlife, which culminated in the creation of a national park here in 2004.

For most people in Namibia - and certainly visitors from overseas - Oranjemund remained an inaccessible destination on account of the stringent controls by the mining company and the police, designed to keep away smugglers. After Namibia gained its independence in 1990, the Namibian government acquired 50% ownership in the mining operation, which was renamed to Namdeb Diamond Corporation.

While Oranjemund was already proclaimed a town in 2011, it was only after the economic viability of mining operations had diminished to a point where the risk of diamond theft could be easily controlled, that the town and its vicinity were opened to the public in October 2017. So while it was founded in 1928, Oranjemund is technically one of the newest tourism destinations in Namibia.

Inhabitants speak with great pride of their town - now accessible via a brand new highway, which coming from Rosh Pinah roughly follows the Orange River - known for its tree-lined avenues, lush green parks and the iconic Oryx antelope wandering in town. Oranjemund is now part of the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park, which lies adjacent to the /Ai-/Ais-Richtersveld Trans-frontier Park, which has been proclaimed a few years back and stretches from the north-western Namaqualand into the southern parts of Namibia.

Tourism is already one of the key building blocks in the re-engineering of the unique diamond mining town of Oranjemund. “Diamonds are not forever and that is why we need to diversify our local economy and for that reason, we are looking into tourism,” says Henry Coetzee, Mayor of Oranjemund and speaking of the NTY2018 and the NTE, he adds: “The excitement is quite high in our town.” Coetzee judges its close location to South Africa, with Alexander Bay just across the Harry Openheimer Bridge, to be of benefit to local tourism.

“We are very unique as the only town in the South located next to a river and the ocean,” says the Chief Executive Officer of the Town Council, Shali Akwaanyenga. He considers environmental protection and the creation of additional accommodation for tourists to be of paramount importance to Oranjemund. Meanwhile Coetzee views NTY2018 as an opportunity to put Oranjemund on the proverbial map.

The town and its surrounds have plenty to offer, not least of which is the Jasper House Heritage Centre, which was the first house of the mine manager and today serves as museum of OMD2030, which is a non-profit volunteer association with the purpose of transforming Oranjemund into a tourist destination. The Jasper House contains a well-presented range of artefacts of the human and natural history of Oranjemund and the Sperrgebiet. In April 2008, a 500 years old shipwreck containing Iberian coins, bronze cannons, copper, and ivory was found in the Sperrgebiet, which is also the home of peculiarities such as the renowned Bogenfels (rock arch reaching into the ocean) and a wide range of fauna and flora.

And after an exciting day spent in an area, which in the bigger context only few visitors have been to so far, nothing beats a sun-downer, sitting on the top of the Swartkop hill, from where one can view the majestic sight of the sun setting over the Orange River and Atlantic Ocean.