Page 8 - Bulletin 17 2013

5

perfectly safe and delightful on account of the warmth of the water. During the intensest
heat of the summer season here may be enjoyed mornings and evenings of invigorating
freshness, while the crowded and well-kept beach, with its gaily dressed ladies and happy
romping little ones, testifies to the temperate nature of the climate during the remainder
of the day. It is also remarkable that during the winter when the suburbs are damp and
chill, at Muizenberg summer weather and balmy breezes are the rule. There are several
good hotels, boarding-houses, and several furnished houses for the reception of visitors,
with which are connected bathing-houses, which are extensively patronised from early
morning until midday.

In spite of the intentions of the Act virtually no municipal investment was made in beach

amenities during the next 12 years because all monies were directed to the provision of
municipal services. These were: the Hansen / Silvermine reservoir and water reticulation,

the sewerage scheme, the power station and electrification, road kerbing and guttering,
and the cemetery. All of these were finally completed in 1907 by which time the

Municipality was virtually bankrupt. The post-Anglo-Boer War depression compounded

the financial problems. The Municipality therefore reluctantly had to accept, as the
Improvement Act had anticipated, that only private enterprise would be able to carry out

the ambitious plans. And there had been some private interest: in 1898 Mr J. van Ryan

had been granted permission to erect a bathing establishment; in 1900 Attorneys Innes
and Hutton submitted plans for a pavilion; in 1903 the Muizenberg Estate Syndicate

applied to lease 500 acres for 99 years for a rental of £100,000 and to provide roads,
tramways, a pier and other public improvements. It was noted that “the fresh and bracing

breezes” had kept the municipality practically free of infectious diseases. Early in 1904
there were reports of a proposed mountain railway up Peck’s Valley and a mountain hotel

at the top.

But nothing came of these ambitious plans and so the beachfront amenities remained an

assortment of beach huts built by hotels for their guests and by numerous private
individuals. By 1899 there were 64 such structures strung out along the high water mark.

Between them and future Beach Road, and from the rail line to the Zandvlei outlet,
stretched an extensive flat sandy wasteland. The town was still quite small and most

buildings were situated along Main Road and the rail line. (Figs. 1.6 – 1.11.)