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prominent features of the environment that visually and symbolically serve to define Kalk

Bay as a living fishing village, complete with a fishing community.

Importantly, this version of the past also fits in with a popular image of Kalk Bay fishermen
as being strong and resilient, and as generally opposing apartheid. Often, the fact that the

fishermen successfully resisted implementing apartheid on the boats is extended to the idea
that they were also unaffected by the GAA. A corollary of this view, which I have come

across, is the notion that those who moved after the proclamation somehow lacked in strength

and commitment, or simply left voluntarily. Although the fishing community has indeed
shown remarkable strength and resistance when presented with various forms of threat to its

continued existence in Kalk Bay - a fact which needs celebration - it is also important to

realise the very real pressure, fear and coercion that the CDB inflicted upon those who left.
For many people the choice was between moving or facing a jail sentence.

Finally, what are the consequences of this research? Mainly, as I have explained, my concern

was to investigate aspects of the GAA that are relatively little researched, and to explore how
the effects of it are remembered some thirty years later. In doing this I also hope to provide

insights into some aspects of Kalk Bay’s past that are relatively unfamiliar to many of its

residents. During my fieldwork I also informed people about the possibility of submitting
applications to the Land Claims Court, and became involved as a facilitator for a land claim

process. This resulted in a number of former tenants and property-owners applying to the
Land Claims court for compensation for their lost homes. If these applications are successful,

the likely outcome is that people will receive monetary compensation, or, if it is feasible,
alternative accommodation in the environs of Kalk Bay.

References

Kirkaldy, A. 1996. ‘The sea is in our blood’ – Community and craft in Kalk Bay c. 1880 –

1939, The Government Printer, Pretoria.

Shashikant Mesthrie, U. 1994. The Tramway Road removals, 1959-61, Kronos, No. 21,
November 1994.

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