What Year Were the buildings in Oranjemund drained for moisture?

[Michael Alexander]

Last night I had the opportunity to point out to Israel the drainage holes that we find around the base of the houses in Oranjemund.

I explained to him that sometime in the late 70's or early 80's the houses in Oranjemund were past their initial shelf life and were starting to experience severe damp. So in order to extend the lifespan of the houses, CDM brought in a contractor to drill holes around the base of the buildings in town.

I recall as a child seeing them perform this at our house, rows of little tubes sticking out of the walls with a suction pumps draining moisture...

Afterwards, the house was painted and holes covered...

The mine had managed to extend the lifespan of their houses...

What I cannot recall , was what was the exact year that this exercise was performed? 

It must be more than thirty years ago......

[Michael Alexander]

Spoke to Vinnige Fanie, another old timer, he recalls this draining of the walls and reckons it was in 1981, to extend the lifespan of the buildings by another 20 years....

Interesting bit of history....

[Mike Voden (RIP)]

Mike, I think it was finished / stopped in late 1982

[Michael Alexander]

It was quite a tale back then Mr.Voden.  When the mine built the houses in 55/56 , they never imagined they would still be mining diamonds 20 years later.....

So in order to extend the life of the house by another twenty years, they drained the moisture...

As a kid I was always fascinated by the process, with all those tubes sticking out the wall....