Page 81 - Bulletin 20 2016

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Provincial Administration would support the purchase of Smith’s Farm by the Divisional
Council and enact the special legislation empowering Council to do this, as well as powers
pertaining to the management of nature reserves. Having already expressed his earlier ‘in-
principle’ support for this project back in December of 1929, Administrator Conradie now
proved himself a man of his word. (Fig. 2.39.) Arising from this meeting the Divisional
Council made enquiries the next day from which an option was obtained from the attorneys
for the Smith family to purchase Smith’s Farm for the sum of £16,000 - subject to certain
conditions (such as Norman Smith retaining the fishing rights at Buffels Bay for a further ten
years after sale – so-called ‘Option B’) (107) . (Fig. 2.40.)

News that the Divisional Council was prepared to go it alone, if necessary, gave other
proponents both private and public, the encouragement to carry on. For example, as a last
ditch effort to turn the tables on the City Councillors opposed to this initiative Mayor Foster,
prepared to take this matter before all the enrolled voters of Cape Town. To set this in motion
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a public meeting was called by the ‘Special Committee’ (established back on July 25 with
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the mandate to further the Cape Point initiative). Held on December 9 , it was here that a
‘requisition’ signed by 50 registered voters was drafted calling upon the Mayor to convene a
special meeting of ratepayers, under the requirements of the Cape Municipal Ordinance, to
give a decisive mandate to the City Council as to whether or not it should share in the cost of
the Cape Point scheme.

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This special meeting was held on January 30 1939, and it was almost unanimously decided
by the more than 500 attendees present that a “plebiscite’ canvassing the opinions of all
registered voters of Cape Town on this issue be held in the near future. The audacity of this
action, largely driven by the Mayor in opposition to the majority of the City of Cape Town
Councillors, is evidenced by the fact that this was the first such plebiscite in Cape Town’s
history (108) .

In the meantime and behind the scenes, valuable support was coming from two other fronts.
Will and Percy Hare, as the owners of Blaauwberg Vlei since 1930, entered into discussion
with the Divisional Council and offering their farm, subject to certain provisions, to become
part of the proposed nature reserve and thus, added important encouragement and impetus to
the initiative. (Figs. 2.41 & 2.42.)

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