Otjiwarongo
Otjiwarongo | |
|---|---|
 Otjiwarongo in 2016 | |
 Seal | |
| Nickname(s): OTT, OT | |
| Motto: Gradatim | |
  Otjiwarongo Location in Namibia | |
| Coordinates:20°27′51″S16°39′10″E/ 20.46417°S 16.65278°E | |
| Country |  Namibia |
| Region | Otjozondjupa Region |
| Constituency | Otjiwarongo Constituency |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal |
| •Mayor | Gottlieb Shivute (SWAPO)[1] |
| •Deputy Mayor | Julienda Kampungu (SWAPO) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 49,022 |
| Time zone | UTC+2(SAST) |
| Area code | 067 |
| Climate | BSh |
| Website | otjimun.org.na |
Otjiwarongo(English:beautiful place)[4]is a city[5]of 49,000 inhabitants in theOtjozondjupa RegionofNamibia.It is the district capital of theOtjiwarongo electoral constituencyand also the capital ofOtjozondjupa.
Otjiwarongo is situated in central-north Namibia on theTransNamibrailway. It is the biggest business centre for Otjozondjupa Region. Otjiwarongo is located on theB1 roadand its links betweenWindhoek,the Golden Triangle ofOtavi,TsumebandGrootfontein,andEtosha National Park.It is one of Namibia's fast-growing towns, with a neat and peaceful quality environment and many excellent facilities, including supermarkets, banks, lodges, and hotels. Some of Namibia's best-known private game farms and nature reserves are located in and around the town.
Otjiwarongo is one of Namibia's towns with a largepopulation of German-speaking people.German influence is also evident in its Germanic buildings. The school "Donatus School Otjiwarongo" (D.S.O.) was once known as "Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo".
History
[edit] |
TheSanandDamaraswere the first settlers of the area, the Damaras from the Geio-Daman clan lived in the area from as early as 1390. The Damaras also named the city ǂKhanubes.[citation needed]German Namibiansfirst settled in Otjiwarongo in 1900. Abloody warwas fought in the area between theHererosand theGermansin 1904 where many of the Herero people died. This happened sometime before Otjiwarongo was established as an administration point for the Germans and officially became a town. A narrow-gauge railway was built fromSwakopmundon the coast, to theOtavicopper mine which helped Otjiwarongo become a prosperous agricultural centre. The three tribes where separated like in many of Namibia's towns, where each lived in a separate neighborhood:Ovambo Location,Damara LocationandHerero Locationrespectively. The three locations together made up the suburb ofOrwetoveni.
Economy
[edit]Mining
[edit]
B2Gold mine,an open-pit gold mine established in 2014 and owned byB2Gold,is located approximately 70 km (43 mi) northwest of town. 48 km (30 mi) to the north there is the Okorusufluorsparmine, a well-known source offluoritespecimens formineral collectors.The mine is a potential resource forrare-earth elements.[6]Together, mining contributes about 20% of the town's economy.[7]
Health facilities
[edit]Otjiwarongo District State Hospital is the biggest hospital in the town and very soon a Referral State Hospital will be built, it is mostly used by the middle and low income residents. A number of private clinics and hospitals are also present in the town, including a branch of MediCity Private Clinic.
Tourism
[edit]The main interest for tourists is Otjiwarongo's proximity to theWaterberg Plateau Park.Otjiwarongo is home to theCheetah Conservation Fund,an internationally recognized organization dedicated to ensuring the long-term survival of the cheetah through research, conservation and education. Also about 50 miles from Otjiwarongo isOkonjima,the home of theAfricat Foundation,a cheetah and leopard rehabilitation centre.[8]
On the edge of town is the Crocodile Ranch, one of the few captive breeding programs for theNile Crocodilethat has been registered withCITES.[9]
Built 15 km outside of town, theOmatjenne Damprovides artificial recharge of local groundwater.[10]
Transport
[edit]
Otjiwarongo has a well-developed road network. It is situated at the junction of thenational road B1that passes north–south through all of Namibia, theC38toOutjoand further intoKunene Regionin Namibia's north-west, and theC33toKaribib,connecting the coastal towns ofSwakopmundandWalvis Bay.Roads in town are likewise well-maintained, making Otjiwarongo one of the few Namibian towns that has tarred roads even in the townships.
Otjiwarongo is connected to the national railway grid, run byTransNamib.Otjiwarongo railway stationis situated downtown, connectingOtaviand the junction atKranzberg,and branching off toOutjo.In front of the railway station stands the historicLocomotive No 41,originally brought from Germany to haul ore betweenTsumeband the port atSwakopmund.
The town has an air strip,Otjiwarongo Airport.There are plans to develop an international airport.
Politics
[edit]Otjiwarongo is governed by a municipal council that currently[update]has seven seats.[11]
The2015 local authority electionwas won bySWAPOwhich gained five seats and 3,901 votes. One seat each went to theDemocratic Turnhalle Alliance(DTA, 454 votes) and theUnited Democratic Front(UDF, 442 votes).[12]SWAPO also won the2020 local authority election.It obtained 3,128 votes and gained four seats. One seat each went toIndependent Patriots for Change(IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020, 1,208 votes),Popular Democratic Movement(PDM, the new name of the DTA, 537 votes) andLandless People's Movement(LPM, an opposition party formed in 2016, 488 votes).[13]
Education
[edit]There are about 15 schools in Otjiwarongo, three private schools and twelve public schools. All schools final exams for grade 10 and 12 are regulated by the Ministry of Education, Arts & Culture. The schools of Otjiwarongo attract more and more non-resident students. The town also has a community library that caters for reading needs of the towns residents.
There are a number of institution for higher education in the town, as well as the MTI and COSDECvocational training centresand aconvent.TheUniversity of Namibiaand theNamibia University of Science and Technologyhad plans to build satellite campuses in the town. The two institutions already have their regional centers in the town wheredistance studentsinteract with the two institutions respectively.
Public Schools
[edit]- Karundu Primary School
- Karundu Junior Secondary School
- Orwetoveni Primary School
- Rogate Primary School
- Spes Bona Primary School
- Vooruit Primary School
- Donatus School Otjiwarongo (until 1995Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo)
- Otjiwarongo Secondary School
- Monica Geingos Secondary School[14]
- Paresis Secondary School
- Tsaraxa-Aibes Combined School
Private Schools
[edit]- Privatschule Otjiwarongo[15]
- Otjiwarongo Christian Primary
- Edugate Academy
Previously the German school Regierungsschule Otjiwarongo was in the city.[16]
Language
[edit]About 90% of the town's residents speak and understandAfrikaans.About 75% speaks English and 35% German.[citation needed]Other languages includes indigenous languages likeOtjiherero,Khoe-KhoeandOshiwambo.
Sport
[edit]Mighty Gunners FCis the town's major football team.Life Fighters(Okahirona) also returned to theNamibia Premier Leaguein 2017 after more than a decade.Mokati Stadium,the smaller of two stadia in Otjiwarongo, is located in Orwetoveni and it is the main football stadium in town. There are also grounds forbasketball,netball,andtennis.The largest,Paresis Parkalso known as "The Show Ground", is located in the upper suburb of the town. It is the towns biggest sport ground and one of the biggest inNamibia.It has two soccer fields and two rugby fields. There are also grounds forhockey,tennis,netball,andcricket.The park is also used to host sport tournaments and business events such as the Otjiwarongo Trade Show. In 2011, it hosted the main event of the 21st Independence Celebrations of Namibia.[17]
-
South Otjiwarongo CBD -
Christian's church in central Otjiwarongo -
Aerial photo of Otjiwarongo showing mostly the South and Eastern part of the town
Geography
[edit]Living conditions
[edit]In many of Otjiwarongo's townships residents live inshacks.In 2020 the city had a total of 6,251 of these informal housing structures, accommodating more than 50,000 inhabitants,[18]more than the most recent (2011) census reported as total population figure.
Climate
[edit]Otjiwarongo has asemi-arid climate(BSh,according to theKöppen climate classification), with hot summers and mild winters. The average annual precipitation is 457 mm (18 in).
| Climate data for Otjiwarongo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32 (90) |
30 (86) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
27 (81) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
27 (81) |
31 (88) |
32 (90) |
33 (91) |
34 (93) |
29 (85) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 24.5 (76.1) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.5 (72.5) |
21 (70) |
18 (64) |
15 (59) |
15 (59) |
17.5 (63.5) |
22 (72) |
23 (73) |
24.5 (76.1) |
25 (77) |
21.0 (69.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17 (63) |
17 (63) |
16 (61) |
13 (55) |
9 (48) |
6 (43) |
6 (43) |
8 (46) |
13 (55) |
14 (57) |
16 (61) |
16 (61) |
13 (55) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 100 (3.9) |
121 (4.8) |
80 (3.1) |
41 (1.6) |
5 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
2 (0.1) |
14 (0.6) |
39 (1.5) |
54 (2.1) |
457 (17.9) |
| Source: World Climate Guide.[19] | |||||||||||||
Twin cities
[edit]
|
|
Notable residents
[edit]- Dan Craven(born 1983), racing cyclist
- Hage Geingob(born 1941), first prime minister and third President of Namibia
- Otto Ipinge,politician, former mayor of the town, former regional councillor forOtjiwarongo Constituency,and current governor ofOtjozondjupa Region
- Vekuii Rukoro(1954–2021), lawyer, businessman and the paramount chief of the Herero people
- Agnes Samaria(born 1972), middle-distance runner
- Calle Schlettwein(born 1954), politician, Minister since 2012
References
[edit]- ^Mbathera, Ester (15 January 2022)."Otjiwarongo elections for political office bearers finalised".The Namibian.
- ^"Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)"(PDF).Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report.Namibia Statistics Agency. p. 39.Retrieved24 August2016.
- ^"2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report"(PDF).Statistics Namibia.
- ^Viljoen, J.J.; Kamupingene, T.K. (1983).Otjiherero woordebook / dictionary / embo romambo.Gamsberg. p. 59.ISBN0868481955.
- ^"Local Authorities".Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN). Archived fromthe originalon 10 June 2013.Retrieved1 October2012.
- ^Okorusu MineatMindat.org
- ^Hartman, Adam (May 2019). "Evolution of Namibia's mining towns".Mining Journal supplement toThe Namibian.pp. 26–33.
- ^Jackman, Brian."BBC - Science & Nature - Articles - Big cat watching in Africa".bbc.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 19 March 2008.Retrieved17 March2008.
- ^"Otjiwarongo Namibia".The Cardboard Box Travel Shop. Archived fromthe originalon 13 March 2012.Retrieved9 April2012.
- ^Omatjenne DamArchived13 December 2009 at theWayback Machineat NamWater.na
- ^"Know Your Local Authority".Election Watch.No. 3. Institute for Public Policy Research. 2015. p. 4.
- ^"Local elections results".Electoral Commission of Namibia.28 November 2015. p. 7. Archived fromthe originalon 10 December 2015.
- ^"2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats"(PDF).Electoral Commission of Namibia.29 November 2020. p. 16. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 January 2021.Retrieved4 March2021.
- ^"Namibia: Geingos Rewards Outstanding Pupils and Teachers".Allafrica.Retrieved25 November2021.
- ^"Willkommen auf der Website der DSVO".dsvo.org.Retrieved27 January2023.
- ^"Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672"(Archive).Bundestag(West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 32/51.
- ^"Namibian Broadcasting Corporation".20 July 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 20 July 2011.Retrieved25 November2021.
- ^Nghinomenwa, Erastus (12 August 2020)."Namibia's ghetto life: Half million live in shacks countrywide".The Namibian.p. 1.
- ^"Otjiwarongo Climate Guide, Namibia".WorldWeatherGuide.co.uk.Retrieved25 November2021.
External links
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| International | |
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| National | |
