Was there a chap here in the 70's called Gordon Brown, who was technical advisor to the Gm of the time, who leaked mining info to the Newspaper about DeBeers overmining or something? Does anyone know about this and furthermore what happened to this chap?
Didn't he recently become the occupant of 10 Downing Street? Vra maar net.
nope... Gordon Brown, just had a second email about the guy.... he was Scottish, Dj Van Jaarsveld made him assistant to the GM....he left the country illegaly, his story was printed in the Scottish Newspapers.... He thought/claimed that the group was out to get him.......
Yes there was some story about selling confidential info. Just remember he was a swimmer as was his daughter - don't remember her name (Jean?), but think she is in the photo I have of the swimming team, which I will someday get round to figuring out how to put up. Took me long enough to just get a message on the sight!
Jeepers....Now it's coming together...There was a Jean Brown in my class in 1981, I just posted the class pic on the other board......
I also heard about those stories.........Leaks to the outside LOL
Was he a short plump guy?
Nope , slim build dark hair slightly receding , moustache , always wore tweedy jackets and if i remember correctly he was married to a Freemantle daughter .. just what sticks in my mind .. maybe me wrong ..
Its ringing a bell.......
Ding Dong !!
:sorriso2:
Yes, Gordon was a swimmer and so was his daughter Jean. He was married to Ingrid who worked in accounts. They're living in Cape Town. Jean's married and has 2 gorgeous sons. As for the story about 'leaking info', there were many rumours about what really happened and who was at fault ... who screwed who ...
I remember this guy very well and have always been wondering, wha migh have happened to him.
He was ofen at the pool. Very quite guy. His wife would sit (fully dressed) near the pool while he would swim, swim, swim... He seamed a bit of a loner.
His daughter was a lot younger than me. The last I remember was her learning to swim.
I remember Gordon well, he was always training at the town pool when us kids were there - he always reminded me of Mark Spitz (the Olympic swimmer in the 70's) with that trademark moustache. I remember a couple of girls having a crush on him......I also remember briefly the scandal Mike's referring to that he got into.
Anyone got a contact for him?
Gordon's wife's name was Ingrid
The Freemantle girl, Tony's sister.
Yes I remember the story, he was married to Ingrid whose brothers Pepe and Tony I knew.
Tony passed away some time back and Pepe I last heard was some where in the old Transvaal, I only use the old name because I do not know in which new province he lives.
Ronny the youngest brother worked for De Beers Marine in the 90s, he may still be there Mike if you need more info on his brother inlaw? Lance Olivier might be able to help you he works for De Beers Marine.
Keep well all!
I worked for the GM at the time that Gordon made his allegations against De Beers "strip mining" all the diamonds at Omd; he was a SWAPO member and involved in the struggle at the time. He took his allegations to the highest levels of the SA government which resulted in the appointment of the Thirion Commission. Roger Burchell will remember the story very well as would Koos Holl.
Hi Guys
I also remember Gordon as the swimmer/Mark Spitz type guy. He taught myself and a couple of other kids how to swim properly on a voluntary basis (as he was quite a competitive swimmer in his day). Yes he did cause quite a stir re. De Beers with some accusations. There were stories at one stage that he appeared on some Scandinavian TV station about the topic. Richard, the last I heard is that Ronny is still with De Beers but I think in HQ (a larney).
Bye for now
Hey boet, good to see you on board..........finally...........welcome to the "home away from home".......hope to see many more postings........lotsa luv, small sis
Yes Delia. Great Rusty has joined. Hope it's fine to you, for me to use your old nickname...
Ronny Freemantle worked for De Beers Supply Chain (oldtimers called it the Depot) in Joburg and was killed in a car accident a few years ago. I heard that Gordon Brown and Ingrid are divorced. He was involved in one or other diamond deal some years ago, at the time he was living with a lady in Whk. He was caught but managed to escape, crossed the Orange and was rumoured to have gone to Scotland.
.... and sold his story to the Scottish papers....
No Nada, they're still together.
Hi Patricia, greetings to your parents! Had a ball working with your mom and Ingrid in Creditors. What a combination of different cultures we had with Cora being Dutch, Ushi German and then the verrry conservative others.
Hi Nada. My parents often mention your folks and the good times they shared. I remember a trip we did once to go see wild horses in the desert. Must still have photos of your dad in his cowboy hat somewhere. I'll try and scan some when I go to France at the end of the month.
Oops, I think we're going to be in deep kak for being off topic again ...
Hi Patricia, if you track normal conversations it also goes off the original topic! Tough! I was never part of the Riding Club group, was "grown up" and had my own social group. I remember the trip and I also remember my dad was apparently always whistling "Love is in the Air" on that trip. After the trip the kids had to make drawings of what they enjoyed most on the trip, my dad got quite a few "paintings" of him, beer in the hand and a bubble with Love is in the Air! CAn yo believe that it was almost 30 years ago!
Back to the topic .... I found this on the net - who knows who's telling the truth??
Dumbarton woman's campaign to clear name of diamond industry whistle blower
You are here: Home / News Desk / Dumbarton woman's campaign to clear name of diamond industry whistle blower
23 May 2008
Campaigner Joan Baird with diamond industry whistleblower Gordon Brown and a commemorative cake with an image of the puffer Vital Spark.A Scot who was sentenced to five years in jail for blowing the whistle on inhuman working conditions and illicit practises in the South African diamond mining industry is taking the case to clear his name to the United Nations in New York.
Sixty-year-old Gordon Brown, who comes from Pollok in Glasgow and is a former pupil of Hutcheson's Grammar School on the city's South Side, is receiving support from a newly formed campaign group called Vital Spark after the Clyde puffer of that name.
Dumbarton woman, Joan Baird, a leading member of the campaigning Clydebank Asbestos Group, organised the first meeting in Glasgow's Caledonian University where Gordon protested his innocence and outlined what happened to him.
Mrs Baird, of Geils Avenue, Silverton, is one of hundreds of Clydeside widows whose husbands died of asbestos-related diseases picked up in local shipyards, heavy engineering factories and major building sites.
She told the meeting that the South African diamond industry had also been blighted by lung disease and that there had been a huge death toll amongst men forced to work in conditions that were both unacceptable and inhumane.
Mrs Baird met Gordon Brown in Cape Town while taking part in a television documentary film about lung disease and death at work.
She said: "No man, woman or child is safe from this disease. I am no academic or great mind with a solution or a cure for it, but I do have an honours degree in human suffering from watching my husband die.
"Hence my support for this campaign to clear Gordon who was jailed for blowing the whistle and revealing to the world the facts about what was going on in South Africa."
Members of the Clydebank Asbestos Group, including former Upper Clyde Shipbuilders shop stewards Bob Dickie and Jimmy Cloughley, with Joan Baird (front left) Gordon Brown and his biographer. Laurie Flynn.Mrs Baird read out letters of support for the campaign from Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, West Dunbartonshire MP John McFall, Tony Benn and Liberal peer David Steel, who was one of her classmates at primary school in Dumbarton.
Gordon Brown started work when he was just 20 as a technical assistant to the general manager of one of the largest diamond mines on Namibia's Atlantic beaches.
He was dismayed by the injustices he witnessed. Black workers were recruited under the hated migrant labour system, which meant they could not live with their families.
Gordon said: "To add to their misery they were abysmally paid and were housed in single sex compounds unfit for humans to live in."
He smuggled out documents which detailed the employment policies of the mega-rich diamond companies and submitted them to a public inquiry. He also revealed that diamonds were being mined well in excess of the industry quotas,
Gordon claims he was victimised by his employers and sacked from his job and when he later started out in a diamond business of his own he was framed for illegal dealing in unpolished stones and jailed for five years. He was held in prison for just seven weeks before being released however.
He now wants the people responsible for his arrest - and those he says perjured themselves to secure his conviction - to be brought to justice on the orders of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN.
Joan Baird presents Gordon Brown and Laurie Flynn with a bottle of Scotch whisky.He said: "The South African government said it was not their problem and even the Truth and Reconciliation Commission refused to hear my case. I went to the International Commission on Civil and Political Rights and now the matter is going to the UN."
Joan Baird said: "These diamond companies were amongst the richest in the world with enormous profits going to their shareholders yet they treated their workforce appallingly on the Namibian beaches, where diamonds were 'harvested' and public access was strictly forbidden, and down the mines where so many people died of lung disease."
She said: "What has happened to Gordon is disgraceful. He is totally innocent of all the charges that were trumped up against him. We decided to call the campaign to clear his name after the Vital Spark because it is vital that we get people aboard and spark public interest which will light the way ultimately to justice for Gordon.
"We hope that it will also bring to account those totally corrupt companies which treat their workforces so inhumanely."
Very interesting reading Cherry
good work Cherry. Thank you.
Well researched..... and the tale is still alive and well.....
Reading that article again, it is totally skewed..... sensationalized.... what asbestos mine? How bad were the compounds? How do you enforce carat call? Just my thoughts....
You should see the compounds in this place ... and we're in 2008 ...!!!
Good or Bad....? COmpounds? Who stays there?
it's a holiday camp for when you go visit there Mike!
:emot172:
vampire
Says her that lives on a cramped overtaxed island!
Geez Michael. T slowely but surely feeling wha you felt like all these years. SHE CLOSER THAN EVER!!!!!
The compounds .. yes .. looking back . one could say inhumane .. but then again .. thats where it was .. for those that came and lived there for the 6 month renewable contract .. it was a way of earning money .. you still get reports from europe of migrant turkish etc workers also cramped into the same conditoions today ..and yes .. asbestos .. I can understand the plight of the miners but thats irrelevant to open pit diamond mining .. the only hazard i could think of is silicosis ( sand dust but thats from crushing activities or people that work with stone works ) .. but years ago we did not know the hazards of asbestos .. .. I think now to CT .. the caltex refinery .. people moaning about its fumes .. but years ago it was not surrounded by residential area .. in fact at its inception it was in the gramedoelas as far as the city of CT went .. so people moved there ?? and now they moan .. not that I'm downplaying the refineries responsibility in cleaning up emmissions .. but .. where are the brains .. ?? move into that environment expect asthmatic kids and other problems .. the refinery was there and did not move in after them .. that I can understand as a reason to bitch .. I'm pretty sure with the GB story there is a certain amount of agrandasation with people taking up the cudgels .. it suits them and keeps their reason for carrying on another cause ? .. sure he may ahve opened up cans of worms .. but then ??
About twenty odd years ago I had the opportunity of going up to the new prospecting plant opened south of Luderitz (can't remember the name). Think it is quite a viable operation at the moment. Anyway the plant was located close to a ghost town (not Kolmanskop). There was a diamond mine in the area many years prior +/- 1920's and looking at the hostels from that era made the hostels, at the time of the accusations, in OMD look like five star hotels. The hostel inhabitants would have to enter the mess area through a door at one end of the building, receive their food at a long serving counter (as seen in movies where prisoners chow) and then they would have to leave the mess through a door at the other end of the building. No evidence of chairs, tables, or dining area, etc. It is believed that the hostel inhabitants ate outside, exposed to the elements. As for the sleeping quarters, ablutions, don't want to mention it. I took some old 35mm photo's and will try post them. Maybe someone could help me out with the name of the plant, my memories shot .
That would be the Old Diamond TOwn of Elizabeth Bay, the hostel accommodation looks like cement pig pens.....
correct there mike lad. i hav pics of those somewhere but i dont know how to post them here........... help mike.
@ Chris Macpherson
Send those photos to me, i will edit and post them in the board....
Or you edit , resize to max 700 pixel
press " + additional options "
There you see the files in your PC,
Select, then press post
Dont forget the stamp Chris.
just a question ; Years ago , Luke Lisser's son was killed in a blasting accident , the blast went off prematurely . A certain Mr Brown was also present . could it have been Gordon ?
If you refering to the other guy that was also killed in the blast,then no his name wasn't Gordon Brown. I do know it just can't think of it now.
The blast .. actually it was an afrikaans boy .. still got picture of him in my mind .. also blonde like paul .. Paul was had curly hair and he had straight hair .. there is the sory of when they cleared the accident site .. gruesome but wont go into detail ..
Was somebody blamed for it?
Richard would know the correct story. Will get him to post next week when he gets back from Germany.
two persons were killed in the blast . As it goes people speculate about the cause. If I understand things correctly , the blast was detonated electrically from the blastng supervisors vehicle . and there were stories . But I do not have definite answers about who conected the wires or ???
Leave it to Richard .. we all got a version and possibly lots of speculation ... If I correctly recall he has all the facts on that tragic incident ..
Mike! This is getting scarey. A Gordon Douglas Brown just signed on the board.
:buffo9:
I see, let's hope it's the same chap, this forum is about to get very interesting! :emot112_2:
Then lets welcome gordon in the hope he will post here
@ Mike, How about a PM to encourage him
Already done oldman....
image21
It is the one and the same Gordon Brown - he sent me an email.
Quote from: Cherry (Alcock) on June 15, 2008, 03:14:47 PM
It is the one and the same Gordon Brown - he sent me an email.
I wrote him.......no answer !!!! abouttime
We are waiting for him to post on the board. I dont know how old he is, may be not so fit for long internet sessions. Lets wait.....
He sent me 2 mails, but no answer whether he's our man.
Gordon Brown is still married to Ingrid. Spoke to her brother Paul (Pepe) last week.
Had a good laugh with him - Omund has not changed - "making a mountain out of a mole heap" - the skinner goes on!
Yeas I can imagine. That's just why it would be great if Gordon would write.
So whats the story then Richard?
Mail from Gordon Brown.
Dear Georg
It was great hearing from you again.Have been trying valiantly to post some info about myself and family on your site but without success. Will keep trying by following your instructions. Of interest to a few ex-Oranjemunders might be my whistleblowing bit.Of interest to some; dead boring to others.The saga continues and you might want to be updated from time to time.If there is an interest I will try and post something. If not I will stick to lighter topics.In order to test the water Georg, I can direct you to a particular web site which contains a recent article about these actions. It's entitled "Namibia: Exposing The Corrupt Practices Of The De Beers Diamond Cartel". Please read it and if you think it may be of interest to ex-Oranjemunders and other good people who read the Forum site please feel free to post it.Hope nobody gets into trouble either posting or reading this.It's not an issue for me. I'm already in the proverbial. It's only the depth that varies!As you say there are always two sides to a story and it's always best to read both. I hope to have my own web site up and running from the U.K. before the end of the month. It presents this topic in a good bit of detail. Again, of interest to some, not to others. Going onto the Oranjemund site and seeing the fine folk we knew and their children, now grown up, brought back very happy memories. A great site. Thanks to the producers!
The site to access is as follows: http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17899
Best wishes and kind regards to you and all ex=Oranjemunders. GORDON BROWN
Please give me feedback if you can.
and here is that story,,,,,,,
"Gordon Brown is a Scots born whistleblower who exposed the De Beers diamond cartel's overmining at the worlds richest mine and has consequently paid a heavy price for telling the truth about the largest international mining company.
In 1993, Gordon Brown was arrested on an Illicit Diamond Buying charge in Naimibia. Facing trial on very serious charges in 1994, he was given an unprecedented five year jail sentence on a first offence by a single judge sitting on his own without a jury. Gordon had no serious legal representation at the trial; his lawyer of choice withdrew at the very last moment leaving him in the hands of a lawyer who was wholly unfamiliar with the details of his defence. Freed from jail after seven weeks pending appeal, he was advised that it was unlikely that he would get justice in a land where De Beers was so powerful. Later, fearing for his life after the death squad murder of a friend (Anton Lubowski), Gordon fled the country as a fugitive from injustice.
Namibia was illegally occupied by apartheid South Africa throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The UN passed a special decree forbidding mining companies from extracting minerals unless they had specific permission. De Beers and its sister company, Anglo-American, defied this decree and made secret arrangements to overmine the diamonds ahead of Namibian independence. As the technical assistant to the mine manager, Gordon Brown felt it was his simple duty to blow the whistle and came forward to give hard evidence of this illegal behaviour to a judicial enquiry. Since then he has been targeted by members of De Beers' security and their colleagues in the Police Diamond Branch.
Since his arrest and trial Gordon Brown has always maintained his complete innocence. He recently came into possession of conclusive evidence to prove he was telling the truth: the sole prosecution witness, Joseph Eben Dawid, admitted on oath and in writing that he had given perjured testimony to secure Gordon's false conviction. His reward for lying had been a well paid job in De Beers' diamond security division which he had taken up just before the trial.
As soon as Gordon discovered that the UN had modernised its procedures and was admitting human rights complaints from individuals, he began to prepare his complaint. Travelling to Geneva in the summer of 2006 he lodged his complaint at the correct office and obtained a receipt. He heard nothing for a whole year despite emails and phone calls from his home in Cape Town, South Africa. Then, in 2007, Gordon discovered that his complaint had mysteriously disappeared.
Only after repeated complaints was he able to get back on track in autumn 2007. The Namibian government has now cobbled together a response to Gordon's complaint and is hoping to have it ruled out as inadmissible. But the nature and extent of the human rights abuses against Gordon Brown are so considerable and his case is so well particularised that this is unlikely.
In addition to the UN initiative, action is being taken to bring the De Beers diamond cartel to account for its human rights abuses, illegal diamond mining operations in Namibia and a raft of other human rights abuses including conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, malicious prosecution, suborning and interfering with witnesses. Brown wants the directors and officials who conspired to destroy his reputation and his business activities in Southern Africa brought to book and punished for their crimes.
For decades De Beers worked hand in glove with the apartheid government and the Namibian and South African diamond police to protect its monopoly and hobble its critics and business rivals.
Thanks to Gordon Brown's courage in telling the truth about the way De Beers and its sister company Anglo American worked in gem mining, our knowledge of the realities behind these corporate veils has increased dramatically.
10 things we know about De Beers diamond cartel because of Gordon Brown
1. The Anglo-American corporation obtained control of the Namibian diamond deposit in highly dubious circumstances during and after World War I and ran it as a monopoly business even though the League of Nations/United Nations mandate expressly outlawed all monopolies.
2. De Beers took control of a diamond deposit the size of Wales in return for an annual ground remit of £130 per annum. This rent never changed between 1920 and 1970.
3. The Namibian Police Diamond and Gold branch was a De Beers front - with offices provided and furnished by the cartel.
4. The South West Africa Diamond Board was a joke watchdog with its offices situated in and paid for by De Beers.
5. The Diamond Board secretary, Stanley Jackson, was seconded to the post by his employers, De Beers and all controls over the movement of diamonds in and out of Namibia were in the hands of cartel officials.
6. The De Beers group opposed all cutting of diamonds in Namibia and structured itself to avoid tax and move minerals though a worldwide web of companies each of which added costs and subtracted profits in order to maximise De Beers returns abroad. This scam is known as transfer pricing.
7. The company had so effectively colonised the government mining department supposedly responsible for regulating it, that the top government mining officials didn't even know the name, never mind the detailed terms of the law they were supposed to enforce.
8. This put De Beers in prime position to abuse the mine, overexploit the diamonds by grade and stone size for many years while the cartel's friends in politics in Britain, America and South Africa delayed independence for Africa's last colony.
9. In this way De Beers shortened the life of the mine and took away an extra billion pounds worth of diamonds ahead of Namibian independence. With working costs at 25% of revenue this means that the company plundered £750 million in excess profit and unjust enrichment from a poor country heading for independence.
10. De Beers diamonds will be remembered as tokens of some people's wealth and other people's poverty because conditions at the world's richest mine were ferociously exploitative with black miners condemned to inhuman conditions, the shocking details of which Gordon Brown, among others, exposed.
A criminal enterprise
In 2004, De Beers was given a formal criminal conviction in the United States for conspiracy to violate competition law and fined the maximum amount of $10 million. In November 2005, the group agreed to pay $295 million to settle price fixing and restraint of trade lawsuits brought by individuals who had bought over-priced diamonds from cartel customers and jewellers in the United States. De Beers sister company, Anglo American, has recently been fiercely criticised for human rights violations in the Congo. Other companies in the Anglo group are the subject of criticism in South Africa for its treatment of miners and local people living near the mines.
With Gordon Brown's UN case, De Beers and its friends in the Namibian state hierarchy are hoping to have the complaint dismissed on the basis that Gordon should return to the Namibian capital, Windhoek, for justice. But sadly, the state party's poor overall human rights track record, its persistent human rights violations and abuses, its disregard for the fundamental human rights and freedoms entrenched in the Namibian constitution and its disrespect for the workings of the Human Rights Committee mitigate against this.
The annual reports of Amnesty International, other human rights organisations, and even of the US Department of State, contain numerous references to evidence of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, detention without charge or trial, extra judicial executions, disappearances after arrest, denial of freedom of expression and association, police brutality, hate speech, prison abuses and denial of fair trial rights in Namibia. A further aggravating issue is the lack of separation of government powers; proper separation of powers is essential to create or maintain a democratic state based on the rule of law. The accumulation of all power, executive, legislative and judicial in the same hands may by contrast be regarded as the very definition of tyranny. Yet Namibia massively centralises power.
One of Namibia's leading government ministers, Pendukeni Iivula-Itlana holds no less than five key appointments and serves as Minister of Justice, Attorney General, person legally responsible for the Office of the Prosecutor General, secretary general of the ruling SWAPO party and SWAPO member of parliament. She also serves on the Judicial Services Commission which appoints judges in Namibia.
This concentration of executive, legislative and administrative power in the hands of one individual in the Namibian government makes a mockery of its claim to be functioning on the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and justice for all. Furthermore, the Namibian justice system is in severe crisis. According to the 2007 US State Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices, there are around 50,000 unresolved cases on court dockets and people have to wait years and years for justice.
Justice for Gordon Brown campaign
De Beers Security and the Police Diamond Branch came to court against Gordon Brown with extremely dirty hands, employing perjury and suborned witness to obtain a conviction. This extremely serious perversion of the course of justice has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the Namibian police, the Ministry of Justice, and individual judges and still nothing has been done to annul the conviction of an innocent man and punish those who perverted the course of justice.
Gordon has another reason for declining to put his fate once again in the hands of a corrupted process in Namibia. As he left the court in 1994 to begin his five year jail sentence following his false conviction for Illicit Diamond Buying, he was arrested yet again and charged with still another concocted crime: extortion from his former employer De Beers.
The arresting officer had come to the court at the bidding of De Beers which has enormous power in Windhoek, the nation's capital, and throughout the land. The officer concerned, Chief Inspector Terblanche, had earlier been exposed as an accomplice to the murder of Anton Lubowski, a prominent Windhoek lawyer and one of the first white people to join SWAPO, by the apartheid death squads, the so-called Civil Co-operation Bureau.
Prior to his murder, Mr Lubowski had shown great interest in reforming the corrupt world of diamonds in Namibia. He and Gordon Brown had travelled to Lusaka, Zambia on two occasions to present their proposals for change to the SWAPO leadership in exile. Gordon had also advised both Sean MacBride and Bernt Carlsson, the United Nations High Commissioners for Namibia, on just how much better the industry could be run.
De Beers felt threatened by this and fabricated the phoney extortion charge which still hangs over Gordon. Time and time again Gordon has demanded details of this charge but De Beers and the Namibian prosecuting authorities decline to provide any such information.
Gordon recently returned to his native city, Glasgow, Scotland to inform his supporters about the latest moves in his campaign to clear his name. As well as pursuing the Namibian state parties implicated in the frame up and destruction of his reputation and business interests, Gordon is preparing to pursue De Beers and Anglo-American through the law courts in Britain for their part in the campaign against him. He also plans to take his campaign to the United States, De Beers' biggest market and the scene of the recent criminal conviction for illegal business practices."
I visited the compound on a couple of occasions in O/M as my friend nicolenes dad used to work there and took us for a look round.....i remeber it as being a very nice place.....i do have some slides and will try get them scanned.....at the time i didnt think it was wrong to bring these people in to work as i was always under the impression they were the lucky ones ...to even have a job they would be paid for to then take back to the families.........working away from the family is something a lot of people have to do even today.......the only thing i think was wrong was the low wages they were paid...they were and i suppose are still exploited to some extent......but then again......i feel exploited by my employers....i do the work while they get rich..........isnt this just how the world has always worked..............
Just like SHELL and their lorry drivers in the UK, I guess....
image20
Hey Mike, leave Shell out of this!!
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the article - my personal feeling is that we should leave this topic to rest as it is still an ongoing case and we should respect the family that has been affected by it. One day maybe in the future when this is all settled Gordon may disclose all the facts.
I'd like to thank Gordon for fowarding the infos-. It puts (at least to me) a new light on everything. Somehow I expected things to be something like this. It is unusual, that if somebody dares to sew >spelling< his company that you'll have many legends on the "truth".
As far as I'm concerened ( and still I must admit I cannot judge at all what is true) I believe it is very brave of an employee to make things public when the company is crooked.
Hi Dad, love you lots! This site brings back lots of memories, doesn't it...some interesting topics...could spend days going through it all. To Michael - I remember you from class...LONG, LONG time ago!!
Dear Jean
thanks for the kind words and your unreserved and loving support down the years. Its been a long and hard battle trying to find justice in a thoroughly corrupted system but gut feel has it we are nearly there.Georg and co have done a great job with this site .Pity we didnt come across it earlier. Tons of love
Dad xxxxx
Hi Jean, eventually you have found us, so Gordon is your father, it's all coming together now.Were you not one of those kids who could do the Rubik cube in under 5 minutes....
@ Gordon
Michael has created this site, i am only an assisting....
...and assisting quite welll for a pensioner I might add..... going beyond the call of duty..... :emot112_2:
Hi Mike, yep, could do the rubiks cube pretty quickly...still can...keeps me in the "cool" department with my boys!
Hi Gordan, you did an excellent job on your topic. It is just as you had told me when I last visited. Hopefully it will keep the guys to stop guessing and sucking their thumbs and don't know what they gossiping about. There is always two sides to every story. well done.
Hi Jeany, I am glad to see you on the site as well and supporting your dad. Send love to the family.
I to am pleased to hear Gordons side of the story and found it most enlightening. I would not go as far as to say we were gossiping, guessing maybe. The site is about our memories,good or bad so being a high profile story or event in O'mund it was bound to come up at some point. It has been great that Gordon has come forward with his facts. Thank you.
Thanks those kind word you guys.And all the notes of encouragement. It means a lot. I arrived at O/M in June 1968. Ingi and I were married by Padre Cawthorne on 6 April the following year. Still happily together after 40 years. Ingrid, Paul, Tony and Ronny were the children of Dougie and Pat Freemantle, the nicest family one could hope to meet.They are salt of the earth folk, decent and honest people, full of fun and laughter and all things good in life.Sadly Dougie, Tony and Ronny have passed on but their memories remain behind. I worked initially as a mining supervisor on the mine mainly in 'G' Area on the screening plants and then on bedrock cleaning, overburden stripping and loading and hauling operations.Got my blasting certificate after a practical stint at Affenrucken (sorry Georg don't know where the umlat is on this contraption) and Mittag.Five years later I joined the newly established work study department which was incorporated into Management Services.The folks I worked with in these departments included Arther Snow,Gunter Salchow, Alex Cruikshank,Dave Lineker,Ernie Bester, Koos Maritz, Jackie Carr,Adam Swart, Leon Botes, Abel Barnard, Martin Gerber, Sakkie Burden, China de Jager,Brian Johnson, Hugo Krynow, Bob Ellis, Charl v.d. Merwe,Doc Thurtel, Hennie Jackson and a whole bunch of other great people I was proud to be associated with.In 1978 in was appointed Technical Assistant to the General Manager and worked with good folk like Jim McLuskie,Stef Olivier, Brian McGrath, Kieth Ric-Hansen,Ivan Morrow, Iggi van Gruenen,Doc Stocken,Malcom Mason, Laurie Thurgood, Ronnie Dyson, Edgar Selby and others too numerous to mention.My interests were soccer (Northerns team), tennis (moonlight league with Derek Moore and Gunter) squash for a short while with Charl v.d. Merwe et al and of course swimming with Mac McLaughlan, Clive Cowley and wee Jeanie. Wee Jeanie is not so wee any more. She is married to a wonderful chap Chris, an accountant and they have two lovely boys , Aiden (10) and Josh (7). Two boys who give their grandparents a great deal of pleasure and much to be proud of.I was asked to leave CDM in 1983 for having spoken out against the mine's overmining activity.The rest as they say....... Apologies for rambling on a bit. Best wishes and kindest regards to you all. Oranjemund sure had a special place in my life. God bless.
Typo corrected by Georg 1883 to 1983
Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on June 19, 2008, 12:38:27 PM
I to am pleased to hear Gordons side of the story and found it most enlightening. I would not go as far as to say we were gossiping, guessing maybe. The site is about our memories,good or bad so being a high profile story or event in O'mund it was bound to come up at some point. It has been great that Gordon has come forward with his facts. Thank you.
Well said Diana.
Wow! Thank you.
You mentioned several names even I know and some fellows I even knew well.
Thank you for your courage.
May justice rule and you and your family come to peace.
Gordon, thought u might be interested to know my mom's still working away (Steph Olivier) - she retired from CDM in 1989 but as you know is not the type to sit at home. She's well and still going strong, living in Cape Town with the rest of us scattered here and there throughout CT - me, my sister Linda and Lance. I remember you so well from the swimming pool doing your practicing. As I said in an earlier posting, you always reminded me of Mark Spitz.........
Cheers, Delia
Delia please give your mum my best regards . The fastest typist and most efficient secretary I have ever come across. It was a great privilege and honour working with Stephanie Olivier for five years.I also knew a remarkable gentleman whom I met on many occasions on the mine. A soft-spoken mason with a heart of gold. His name was Ginger; a dad to be proud of.Best wishes. Gordon.
Hi Uncle Paul, great to see you on the site too! Enjoying all the memories that people evoke in their discussions...Mike has done an excellent job.
Hi Jeany, thanks for the message and also great to see you here. Yes Mike has done an excellent job on the site and has done many wonderful things for all of us regards to connecting together again. Please send all my best to Chris and the boys and obviously you too:-))))) Have a lovely Friday and weekend.
Hi gordon, i'll send your regards to my mom - we see a lot of each other as a family, always getting together for braais, birthdays, etc. Talking of her efficiency as a secretary, her current boss just ignores her age - he's a helluva nice guy but is so petrified of losing her, everytime her age and the word "retirement" comes up he just cocks it a deaf ear, doesn't want to know.
Thank you for those kind words about my dad - 30 years on and i still miss him every second of every day and yes, i know we all think our dads are the best, but he truly was a dad in a million.
Hi Gordon, welcome to the forum. Beware, this place is addictive...lol.
Thanks for sharing your side of the story regarding your ongoing battle against injustice. Hope everything turns out OK for you eventually.
Delia as I recall both you and Lance were the most polite kids I met at Oranjemund. Sign of a good upbringing.Kind regards gordon
Thanks Gordon - go well and all the best.
Well done for standing up for what you believe in - as the old saying goes "If you don't stand up for something, you'll fall for anything".
hi all
It's so good to hear things this this. One man can make a difference. I think a lot of tend not to do anything to help others because we are too afraid of failure or think that because we are just one person that we can't fight for what we believe in.
Thank you e154
If only everyone just did one thing to help someone else (no matter how small ) the world would become a better place.......... giverose
What I find interesting is, that the people who started posting in the topic and those that usualy do so in political, social? (or what so ever) topics aren't around now. I'd like to hear your opinion too.
Good point there jnr. I can think of at least one good candidate at this moment... iknow
You were busy Carl. You are excused. ILL NOW!!!
bling1
I believe now is a good time to pull out my famous Huuuhhh?????
Seriously, Dad..."wee Jeanie"???!!! Shortie, or Brownie, but WEE JEANIE??? :emot19: Have a great weekend xxx
Jeanie, go to your room!
Thats the stuff Gordon... you tell her..... :emot19:
Mike, what kind of a welcome is that?? RHODES ALL THE WAY!!!! Yes, you have another one in your midst...Oh my, what's that green slime on my shoe??
Here's a special and warm welcom to Jean... :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1: :tifo1:
That's just to le you all know the buiseness...
Back to Gordon Brown.
It all started of with this feeling of a lump in the throat. Now things are getting easier and I eel people are getting closer to each other. As if we've started on our wayv of understanding what realy happened . I'm I seeing right?
I'm not sure about the seeing jnr, but I think the " f " on your keyboard is also starting to pack up.
Maybe the 'F' ran off with the 'T'
:emot19:
Dear Georg and Mike
Have just been informed that there is now a website up and running which gives a bit more detail about my situation and De Beers overmining activities in Namibia at Oranjemund for those who might want to read a tad more about it. This info can be found at web site www.gordonbrownisinnocent.co.uk
Site producer is still tweeking the content, adding, subtracting and amending where appropriate. Hope it's not too intrusive in your own excellent, more light-hearted site.
Best wishes and kind regards
GORDON
Meant to mention Georg / Mike, there is an informative Granada "World in Action" twenty minute documentary entitled "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" for anyone interested in the story of overmining at Oranjemund. Could it go online? I've no idea how good folks could access this if any interest shown. Please advise.
Kindest regards
GORDON
thnx Will go have a read.
@ Gordon, howa it going with you? Thanks for the link and information. I found it very well done and very interesting to read. To be involved in this type of political game takes something. Well done Gordon, I can see you have done your homework very well. Love to all at home.
Kind Regards,
Me LOL
@ Gordon
Thanks for the link
Videos : you can post here, all in Europe and some in SA can watch that, so send us the link here
@ Gordon
Regards to Laurie Vincent Flynn, good job on your HP
Dear georg
Have been trying to post a small article on the site without success. Message comes up that it has been posted but I am unable to find it. Can you advise where I'm going wrong.
Best regards
Gordon
Perhaps I am spending too much time typing it out or maybe it is too long????? What are parameters????
You have different ways of posting
1) Type directly in the reply
2) Type in a text programm, copy and paste that in the reply
3) Type in a word doc. Save in the PC, open a reply and add it under options as a word attachment
To see a sample go in games and riddles, see full story update with word doc.
Hope i was of help
Call anytime, glad to help
I think option 2 will help, test it
Good luck Georg
@ Gordon
See here a word attachment ideal for large texts
http://www.oranjemundonline.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1819.0
Thanks Georg
Sorry to be such a nuisance,
Best wishes
Gordon
Quote from: Gordon Brown on July 02, 2008, 09:38:10 AM
Dear georg
Message comes up that it has been posted but I am unable to find it.
Best regards
Gordon
That message is not in the board, it has gone in the Nirvana LOL
Dear Georg, hope this posting works this time round. Best wishes and kind regards, Gordon
Well put Gordon. I like your comparison. I've had these debates with ellow counrymen on the nazi issue. It's often hard for people to understand, that those Germans who faught against Nazi-Germany were the true patriots and heroes.
Let me add this sidenote Gordon. I sent Gordon a PM recently, in which I refered to him as a "Nestbeschmutzer", which describes what position he put himself in OM when making things public.
Dear Georg
See you have an interest in mineralogy. Me too.Apart from my interest in diamonds that is.Would be good to hear what aspect of mineralogy interests you most. I am mainly interested in rock hounding; collecting different types of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks as found in situ. There is also a terrific gem outfit here in Cape Town which has a vast array of semi-precious stones and also rough mineral samples. If you are ever looking for specific minerals could probably source them there. Best wishes and kind regards.
Gordon
Hi Gordon
I was collecting stones since i was a boy.
Nothing special just the beauty of it
Took my aprentiship in a steel foundry. There i collected the first real minerals from Iron ore to Chrome, Vanadium etc
All the spices used to make high quality steel in turbines
In SA i was enchanted by the beauty of the coloured stones.
Oranjemund then really made me collecting. Had the stones polished and on all visits bought a few in Nam and SA
See my Site on my Stones
http://www.dersofaladen.de/edelsteine/index.html
Hey Gordon, you have just made frontpage of the Windhoek Observer, I have yet to see the article, which I will scan and post here, I got a phonecall from work to let me know how "popular" you have become again..... I am off work this weekend..... so will only scan it once i get back......
I guess the newspaper people are still trawling this site for articles..... now that the shipwreck has gone cold, it seems Gordon is now flavour of the month..... msn emoticon (9)
I could'nt wait, so I went to work and here is the article, frontpage and then page 8...
Dear Mike
Thanks for the Winhoek Observer article. Smitty is a great guy. Quite fearless and definitely not afraid to take on the bully boys of the diamond world. Will keep you and the site posted on developments as and when they occur. Best regards, Gordon
Dear Georgswa
Had a look at your minerals site. It is truly fantastic. It must have taken an you an age and humungous effort to put it all together.The pics of Oranjemund are quite magnificent.Wish I could develop such a site. Only really became computer user recently and have lots to learn, But it seems to have unlimited application. The more I use it the more I learn.Who knows one day I might have my own minerals site. Thanks again for alerting me to your great site.Best regards
Goedon
Good grief, cannot belief that Smitty is still with the Windhoek Observer, it has indeed been many years!!
Smitty may still be there, but it was reported two weeks ago that his health is starting to fail, suffering from memory loss and tiredness...... but you gotta admire his commitment to the paper... I believe his daughter , Yana, is running the place at the moment....