Page 6 - Bulletin 10 2006

3

time to time. Between 50 – 60 people may have lived there in a row of ten stone cottages
along the railway boundary. “Die Land” was a large polygon of land that had been

registered on 1 November 1825 in the name of W. D. Jennings. (Fig. 1.1). The type of
house here, as in many other parts of Kalk Bay, was typically single storey and often made

of wood and iron. (Figs. 1.2 & 1.3).

Acceptable living conditions depended on regular maintenance of the structures as well as

connections to water, sanitation and electricity. More often than not these were not
provided as landlords sought to minimise their costs. In these circumstances the large

families and the general shortage of accommodation led to overcrowded and frequently
unhealthy living conditions. As a consequence, the distinctions between have-nots and

haves, and between poorly and well-serviced and maintained areas, developed starkly in

Kalk Bay, as they did elsewhere on the Peninsula.

From time to time voices were raised regarding the continuation of fishing and the

permanence of the fishing community in Kalk Bay in relation to visions of the area’s future
as a health resort. One such voice was that of Mr. George Boyes, Resident Magistrate of the

Simon’s Town Magisterial District. He set out his views in a letter of 2 June 1911 to the
Hon. J. W. Sauer, Minister of Railways and Harbours for the Union Government.

“In the District of Simon’s Town which includes Kalk Bay there are engaged in the fishing
industry 128 boats employing 522 men. Of these there are only 47 boats at Kalk Bay,
employing 30 Europeans and 206 other fishermen. I have given the question of moving the
Kalk Bay fishermen and their families a great deal of thought and consideration, and have
come to the conclusion that having the fishery and fishermen at Kalk Bay is a detriment to
the place. I suggest that the Government and Municipality of Kalk Bay combine and get rid
of the fishing at Kalk Bay and take steps to prevent the landing of fish for sale in that bay,
and turn that bay into a safe bathing place – it is naturally a most suitable place for bathing,
as there are no strong currents which make bathing very dangerous opposite Kalk Bay
Railway Station.