Purpurite, a very rare phosphate of manganese, from Sandamab pegmatite, Usakos, Namibia. Size: 5.4 x 4.6 x 1.9 cm.Bush fire in Usakos, 2009
Usakos (English: grab the heel,[2]Otjiherero: Okanduu[3]) is a town on the banks of river Khan, 140 kilometres north-east of Swakopmund in the Erongo RegionofNamibia. It is located on the B2 (Trans-Kalahari Highway), the main road between the Walvis Bay and Johannesburg. The town has 3,000 inhabitants and owns 58 square kilometres (22 sq mi) of land.[4]
Surrounded by mountains, Usakos is quite picturesque. Certain spots around the town show the longest uninterrupted horizon in the world.[2] It is the closest town to the Spitzkoppe, often referred to as the "Matterhorn of Namibia".[5]
The settlement was founded in the early 1900s as a workshop and watering station for locomotives. Herero chief Samuel Maharero sold the land to Europeans who resold it in 1903 to the Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (Otavi Mining and Railway Company) (OMEG) which operated an industrial railway line from Swakopmund to Tsumeb. OMEG established a railway station and a repair shop which was used until the 1960s. When mining operations slowed down, Usakos' importance faded quickly. Today it is just a drive-through from the Namibian inland to the coast.[5]
Historic buildings and structures in Usakos are the Roman Catholic church (erected 1905), the now dilapidated railway station building, and the old hotel.[5]
Usakos is riddled with poverty and alcohol abuse and the unemployment rate, as of 2012, was around 60%. Unlike other Namibian towns, it has not seen substantial development since independence in 1990.[6]
In the 2020 local authority election SWAPO won again over each individual opposition party but lost the majority of seats in the town council. SWAPO obtained 398 votes and gained three seats. Two seats went to the UDF which gained 260 votes, and one seat each went to the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC, newly formed in August 2020) with 163 votes and the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA since 2017) with 78 votes.[11]
Namibia
