LA DOLCE VITA – Italians in Orange Grove
I heard about a delicious little Italian deli in Louis Botha avenue the other day that supplies the surrounding Italian community in Orange Grove – Italian community in Orange Grove??? When I thought about it I did remember spotting some genuine Italian old stallions at the Cosa Nostra restaurant in Norwood tuned into RAI TV and drinking grappa all day… I realised they weren’t …
tourists here to check out the rampant city regeneration and decided to do some investigating into how the SA-Italian people came to live in Orange Grove… My cruising on the net provided some really interesting titbits – Here are some of the theories…
A dynamite factory was built in Modderfontein in the 1880’s and skilled men and women from Italy were brought out by the Nobel-dynamite trust to run the place – they came from Avigliana in Italy where a famous Dynamite factory existed already. “The strong Italian community in Orange Grove traces its origin to those men and women who came out to help run the factory more than a century ago.” For more on this story read here.
Another theory – a sad one – Apparently 10 000 Italian prisoners of war were shipped out here in 1941 during World War two – they were highly emotive and in a terrible state in the camps so the then government made up some activities for them to do – one of them was to build the very steep SYLVIA PASS that crosses over from Orange Grove/Louis Botha into Linksfield – they also built Chapman’s Peak in Cape Town and apparently the Hartebeespoort dam – poor buggers. Apparently after their release some of them set up camp in Orange Grove. Whether this is 100% true I am not sure – if there are any Italians in the house do let us know. – here is the take from the SA Military History Society
“In April, 1941, the first foreign prisoners-of-war ever to set foot on South African soil landed at Durban. They were Italians, captured in Libya and Abyssinia. This contingent turned out to be merely the fore-runner of tens of thousands more.
South Africa had never previously been in the position of having to accommodate prisoners of war.
Hysteria is a common occurrence in all prisons and prison camps, and as the Italians are an emotional people, the incidence of hysteria amongst them was relatively high. The manifestations ranged from hysterical blindness and aphonia (loss of speech) to complete paralysis. In order to combat this hysteria and depression amongst the P.O.W. the Welfare Section of the camp, in close co-operation with the medical side, started a number of measures to keep the men’s minds occupied and to awaken their interest in matters other than their own captivity.”
If anyone would like to go and check the deli out for themselves – it will blow your mind – It is situated on the second floor of a building and is packed with Italian imported food – delicious stuff and reasonably priced – the Italian ladies that work there are vivacious, friendly and embracing – they may able to fill u in a bit more while you feast on one of their delicious salami and provolone sarmies.
SUPER CONTRO (Tirren House)
169 – 171 Louis Botha Ave
Corner 5th St
Orange Grove
011 728 7561
