Page 22 - KBHA BULLETIN 5

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The Wynberg reservoirs and kerbing contracts, which were implemented while Calder was

Mayor of Wynberg, were carried out by members of another family who had close contacts with
Kalk Bay. John Delbridge was a well-respected Mayor of the Kalk Bay – Muizenberg

Municipality and was responsible for similar water supply and building projects along the False
Bay coastline. Members of the family lived in Muizenberg and Wynberg, and it is hardly

surprising to find them playing an active role in the discussions which took place when Wynberg
decided that it would not amalgamate with the Cape Town Municipality in 1913.

All the other small municipalities of the Peninsula, including Kalk Bay, did join Cape Town and
it is interesting to note the determination with which John Delbridge defended the right of

Wynberg to refuse to give up its independence. It is also not surprising that Wynberg chose to

approach Kalk Bay when the council needed to renew its electricity supply, rather than go ‘cap
in hand’ to Cape Town. In the discussions about this matter, it was clear that the Wynberg

councillors would prefer to seek help from their friends in the south, “with whom they felt they
had more in common.”

The first Mayor of the Kalk Bay Municipality also had strong associations with Wynberg.

Councillor Brooke-Smith had been a member of the ill-fated Liesbeeck Municipality before he

joined the first Wynberg Council and took an active part in its establishment as a separate entity.
(Fig. 2.4.) He was closely involved in the initial planning for the Wynberg water scheme,

together with his colleagues Bissett and Bainbridge. In fact, there was considerable rivalry
between these and other councillors before the plans were completed. It was hardly surprising

that, after the disagreement, Brooke-Smith sold his Wynberg home and moved to Kalk Bay
where his considerable business ability was more appreciated. There he continued his

involvement in civic and church business with great success. His term of office as the first mayor

of the newly formed Kalk Bay-Muizenberg Municipality was from August 1895 to July 1897.

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