Page 45 - KBHA Bulletin 10

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The National Housing and Planning Committee were not impressed and wanted more, but
eventually had to back down as they realised that a fisherman’s lot was a hard one, and he

could hardly be blamed for the additional expenses relating to the difficulty of the terrain.
He could not be expected to pay for the wonderful site he had never ordered, but no doubt

would enjoy.

Conclusion

The Kalk Bay Slum Clearance Scheme did much for the fishing community and the

Council emerged with much praise for the “soft-line” it took on rents. But the existence of
the harbour and the fishermen’s flats did not guarantee the security of the fishing

community for in 1967 the whole of Kalk Bay was declared a White Group Area. Those

affected had one year in which to move out, but the occupants of the flats were later given a
respite of 15 years. Elsewhere in Kalk Bay some 120 persons, roughly 22 families, were

forced to move out. In 1982 the exclusive White Group Area proclamation was rescinded

and a new coloured Group Area was suggested, but after much protest and ridicule this was
abandoned a year and a half later.

The land alongside Steenberg Station that had been proposed for the fishermen’s housing

scheme remains largely vacant and undeveloped to this day.

The decade 1936 – 1946 saw a substantial amount of public money invested in Kalk Bay,

apart from the Fishermen’s Flats: the non-European and European (as they were called
officially) beach pavilions (1936 & 1939, respectively), Quarterdeck Road (1939), and the

East Mole of Kalk Bay Harbour (1939). Collectively these projects “completed” the pattern
of development that has been familiar to Kalk Bay residents and others for over 60 years.