Page 116 - Bulletin 17 2013

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DIE DAM, KALK BAY – A SOCIAL HISTORY

Steve Herbert

Origins

The area of Kalk Bay known as Die Dam lies in a small valley near the centre of the village. The

nomadic Khoi people who once frequented the area were displaced and absorbed after the arrival

of the Dutch with their fishing and lime-burning operations. No buildings were established in
Kalk Bay during DEIC times. With time the mountain stream running through the valley was

dammed at what is now Lever Street and in all probability gave the area its name. (Fig. 3.1.)

During the late 1800s this part of Kalk Bay became populated by a racially and religiously

diverse group who, all oral histories tell us, lived in harmony with each other. It is a place of
great historic interest having a population of Muslims, other immigrants from all around the

world, and South Africans who settled there. Oral testimony says it was perhaps not a wealthy
community, but that people respected each other and helped each other in hard times. Like the

rest of Kalk Bay in this period people knew each others’ families for generations. The area also

has some of the oldest buildings in Kalk Bay.

Die Dam had many advantages over the area known as Die Land where the Fishermen’s Flats
now stand. It had water most of the year and was close enough to Fishery Beach for the many

fishermen who lived there to have easy access to their boats. It was far enough away from the

smells of that area, and later, was of course, close to the station. It is therefore little surprise that
over the years Die Dam became a business, administrative, religious and social hub for much of

Kalk Bay.

The layout of the original land grants, the names of grantees, and some street names are shown

on the Kalk Bay ‘Compilation’ Map M5/210 of 1897 (with survey points marked by circles).
(Fig. 3.2.) Die Dam is the area bounded roughly by Belmont – Rosmead, and Main Road –