Page 123 - Bulletin 13 2009
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Ubley, Dromana and Naaldwyk in Ladan Road. On these he collected monthly rentals of
between £8 and £12. All were heavily mortgaged and cash in hand was only £9 8s 0d.
With his finances in tatters Louis, at age 69, was forced to sell Schoonzicht. Despite his
initial animosity to daughter Cato’s husband Billie Williamson (the Engelsman) – it was
Billie who stepped in. In 1938 he bought Schoonzicht for £1800, securing the home for the
family for the remainder of their lives.
Louis Ladan would have considered his greatest achievement his ‘victory’ in his long-
running battle with the authorities about the housing many in the fishing community were
forced to live in. From 1926 onwards he kept up a barrage of letters to the City Council, the
Mayor’s office, to the Governor, and even to General Hertzog himself. Louis was a man
with a strong social conscience. Unusually for the times, he made no bones about the fact
that the fishermen were being treated as no whites would be treated. It is clear that he had a
running battle with the Wolfsohns who owned several slum ‘cottages’ occupied by fishing
families. There was no love lost between them and Louis made many disparaging remarks
about Wolfsohn.
Finally, Council started work on the Fishermen’s Flats completing Phase 1 in 1941 and
Phase 2 in 1945. During the building of the Flats local lore says he watched every brick
being laid offering his own advice as a builder, whether it was asked for or not.
Work had progressed well by the time Louis sent out a three-page newsletter to all
fishermen in December 1941. It is understandable that after 14 years of demanding action
from Council he would be feeling triumphal, but the newsletter is couched in language so
eccentric as to cast doubts on his state of mind. It rambles on for 3 pages - an extraordinary
document. It commences with the words below:
