Otavi is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central
Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency.
Most of the area is dolomitic (Precambrian) and the district was in the past
renowned for its mineral wealth. Most of the deposits have now been
exhausted.
Otavi Triangle
The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and
Grootfontein (to the
northeast) define an area known as the "Otavi Triangle", also known as the
Otavi Mountainland. This geographical region is sometimes referred to as the
"Golden Triangle", or as the "mahangu triangle", owing to the cultivation of mahangu in the area. The three towns that define the triangle are roughly 60
km from each other.
History
On July 1, 1915, the German Army was defeated at Otavi by South African
troops; on June 9 they surrendered nearby and signed the Khorab Peace
Treaty. There is a memorial to this event a few miles outside of Otavi.
Much of the town's economy relies on the two grocery stores, a mill, 2
banks, two gas stations, and many surrounding game/cattle farms, as well as
a handful of other small business. The owners of most of these businesses
are Afrikaners (white Africans of Boer, ultimately Dutch, heritage) or
Germans.
Due to financial mismanagement, Otavi lost its town status in 2004 and was
downgraded to "village". After revenue picked up again, town status was
reinstated in November 2010. With the foundation of the Ohorongo Cement
factory and a gold mine to be opened soon, business and employment is
supposed to pick up significantly.
Transport
Otavi is a railway junction where the line to Oshikango branches off the
line to Oshakati. The B1, the main road going North and South through
Namibia runs right through Otavi, about a 3½ hour drive from the capital,
Windhoek.
Otavi is
the first of the three 'triangle' towns you reach when driving north from
Windhoek on the B1. It is also the smallest one. In the past it was an important mining centre and the scene of
many feuds between the Ovambos, Hereros and Bushmen. Work on a narrow-gauge railway began in
November 1903 and was completed in August 1906, after being interrupted by
the Herero-German war. The railway was built to carry copper ore to
Swakopmund. The German colonial company which ran the mine and built the
railway was the Otavi Minen-und Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (OMEG); there are
some excellent photographs of the railway on show in the OMEG museum house
in Swakopmund. Major mining operations continue today, but they are based in
and around Tsumeb, leaving Otavi Mountains are lead, vanadium, cadmium and
zinc.
Just outside of the town is an Amethyst mine; this is worth visiting
to see samples in their natural state.
gement, Otavi lost its town status in 2004 and was
downgraded to "village". After revenue picked up again, town status was
reinstated in November 2010. With the foundation of the Ohorongo Cement
factory and a gold mine to be opened soon, business and employment is
supposed to pick up significantly.
