Rosh Pinah is a mining village in the south west of Namibia. The village has not got town status yet, but plans are in place to accomplish this. Mining operations in Rosh Pinah started in 1969 when the Rosh Pinah Lead-Zinc Mine commenced operations. In 2001 the village received another economic boost when the Anglo Skorpion Zinc Mine started their mining operations. The town is steadily growing in size and in the amount of services it provides to its residents. Some of the residents that have lived in Rosh Pinah for many years, like Willie and Annalize Coleman, who tell stories of how the village used to only get goods and services like meat and vegetables, a doctor and a priest once a month. Even stranger was the fact that the then only bank visited the village at intervals of two to three months, which meant few chances for residents to meet with the bank manager. This necessitated borrowing each others cheques when they ran out. “You would scratch out the persons details on the cheque and replace it with yours to draw money from the mine’s cashiers or from the shop”.
These days the village boasts two banks, supermarkets, restaurants and coffee shops and even a car rental office. The town has also improved in other ways. Many residential homes have green gardens and many of the houses have recycling bins – pointing to the efforts of the mines to reduce their environmental impacts. The most significant aspect of the village has to be its people however. You can expect to be welcomed and treated with great friendliness by the people in this harsh desert landscape.
Apart from being an ideal base from which to explore the surrounding areas, the village has a few of its own attractions worth noting. It has a golf and tennis club, and a number of accommodation options for tourists. The gravel road between Rosh Pinah and Aus has also recently been tarred, making travel between these two places significantly easier.
