Oranjemund was the obvious name for the new settlement on the north bank of the Orange River when it began in 1936. That was the thinking of the mainly German speaking administration of CDM then based at Luderitz. And so Oranjemund it was for another ten years until 1946 when the tail began to wag to the dog and administration headquarters were moved to Oranjemund.
Almost overnight, an English-speaking administration took over. One of its first tasks was to effect a name change that reflected this. The result was Orange Mouth. Letterheads were changed, signs replaced and the post office had a new address.
From the get-go there was disagreement on whether to write the name as two words or run together as a single word. The problem was that unlike Oranjemund which flowed easily as a single word, the English sounded clunky whether pronounced Orangemouth or Orange Mouth.
Despite the address change half the community ignored the new name and carried on as before, while management remained adamant it could ram the changes through in time. This was the situation until the arrival of the ex-pats who - from the late Forties and well into the Fifties flooded in, via a selection process in London set up by Anglo American.
They were skilled craftsmen, highly unionized, well educated in the technical side of their work and confident to a degree never before experienced by a management used to giving an order and seeing it carried out without challenge. But they were English-speaking which should have carried the day for Orangemouth.
Not so. Almost from Day One they began organizing clubs and sports team, each bearing the name Oranjemund, with the Oranjemund Players leading the charge. I wasn't privy to what went on in the ivory towers of management at the time but I'm sure someone asked why these Brits were so pro-German.
My explanation – feel free to disagree - was that they were almost without exception ex-servicemen who'd just come out of a traumatic war which left them with admiration for a tough foe and a feeling they might have been misled into fighting the wrong people.
For them the sound of the German language had echoes of nostalgia, not for the hard times but certainly for the unity of purpose, the feeling of youth and the comradeship that went with it. They'd fought and won but there was little joy in the victory though much respect for their opposite numbers in uniform.
Yet here they were, creating a new community in a new country and being asked to toe the line by a management that gave orders reminiscent of the much disliked officer class of war time.
The response was organization, representation at management level in monthly meetings, a jack up of mess food and single quarter accommodation (every room enlarged plus a hand basin, extra switch plugs and improved lighting added), better pay levels, better transport (no more back of open truck travelling), a fridge and gas stove for every home, better furniture and many more etceteras too numerous to mention but today are accepted as normal in Oranjemund (oh yes, and that name too!)
Orange Mouth went out the window in short order. Back came Oranjemund, fresh letterheads, new signs and a change of post office address.
It was as if the name Orange Mouth had never been. Even the stoush has been forgotten but the ex-pats' legacy is still to be found wherever Oranjemunders gather. Think skill levels, children and children's children melded seamlessly into the local culture, easily bi-lingual and often multi-lingual, with can do attitudes that challenge any dumb idea by management or even government and send it back to the bureaucrats for a rethink.
I wonder who was the mandarin back in the Anglo-American offices in London who dreamed up that one?
Intersting bit of naming history there Bob, thanks!
In an ironic twist, it can be noted that as one drives along the tar road from Port Jolly in the direction of Alexander bay, one will encounter green distance indicators, ie. Alexander Bay 90km, Alexander Bay 80km, However once you have passed the Alexander Bay gate, the green distance indicators refer to a town called : ORANGE MUND 12km" , with the spacing in the relevant place...... makes one wonder if the chap who manufactured the said board was refering to pre 1950 maps of Oranjemund.....
Any local driving pass, please take the time to take a snap of the board and post it here.........
:wow1:
I thought that was a new SA spelling fault