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watchful eye’ that would make Camps Bay an ideal watering place. (G21-1902, vol 2, p.

634.)

There was another aspect as well, put forward by Woodstock. In 1903 Woodstock was the

fastest-growing municipality in the Colony and the third largest, after Cape Town and Port

Elizabeth. Proud councillors saw their town as the premier industrial city of the Colony. For
this reason they conceived their own scheme for draining water from Olifants Hoek. They

were extremely possessive of their project. As far as they were concerned, water was a
profitable asset and such a scheme would make Woodstock independent of Cape Town. W.

E. Moore, Woodstock’s mayor, explained that such a valuable asset meant that Woodstock
could provide other services at a lower rate – always a vital consideration for penny-pinching

councillors. Their calculations were not unreasonable. In favourable conditions it was

possible to raise a loan on the London markets at 5% interest, and charge 6% for water.

The position of the Kalk Bay – Muizenberg Municipality

Kalk Bay – Muizenberg (KB-MM) was the smallest municipality by population and one of

the weakest financially. Between 1897 – 1907 it had invested heavily, to the point of near-
bankruptcy, in the provision of municipal services that included the Silvermine Reservoir,

sewerage system, and electrification. Unlike many of the others it had sufficient water and
would be able to augment this as demand grew by building more reservoirs in the large

catchment. Water revenues were confidently expected to cover costs of construction as well
as maintenance. The KB-MM (like Wynberg) was therefore resistant to amalgamation on the

grounds of water scarcity and pressure for it came from a different quarter: beach facilities.

Despite its acknowledged potential to be one of the premier seaside resorts of South Africa its
financial weakness had prevented it from providing the required facilities. This deficiency

was dramatically illustrated during the summer season of 1908 – 09 when the largest numbers

of up-country visitors to date arrived for the holidays. This prompted the Cape Peninsula
Publicity Association to urge the municipality to improve the facilities and to this end it

sponsored a tour by KB-MM representatives to view the facilities being provided at Port