Page 124 - Bulletin 21

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The settlement of the estate must have very complex as the last erf (89924) was sold only in

1928 – 50 years after Wicht’s death. It is perhaps fortunate for Kalk Bay that the Wichts did
not build their slum blocks on Die Land, although Kalk Bay was to have its own slum

landlords.

The scale of the entire erf was about 8 acres. The right hand border became Clairvaux Road,
the bottom is Harris Road. The plots at top right had been sold by the Cape of Good Hope

Fishing Whaling and Sealing Company in 1850.

Development begins on Die Land

Of this enormous erf only two erven (89925 and 89926) were subdivided and sold off in

1850. Nearly all the others were sold in 1892 when the fishing community, bursting at the
seams, was desperate for housing. A survey map of 1885 shows Die Land to be virtually

devoid of buildings. (Fig. 4.8.) There may have been delays in settling the Wicht estate or

land values may have soared.

Records show a surge in population growth in Kalk Bay towards the end of the 1800s. The
opening of the railway line to Kalk Bay in 1883 had brought in a different kind of person –

investors, property owners, wealthy holidaymakers – and with them came ongoing conflict
between them and the less wealthy fishing families. In 1891 the total population of Kalk Bay

– Muizenberg was 1456 (of whom 801 were White, 71 Malay and 580 Mixed) and 13 years
later (1904) it had more than doubled to 3607 of whom 2119 were White, 143 Malay, and

1220 Mixed. The need for housing grew as prices and rentals increased, leading to

overcrowding and health problems, specifically in the fishing community. It is extremely
difficult in a work of this nature to capture the spirit and essence of the people who lived on

Die Land through many hardships and over generations. Vincent Cloete summed it up in a
1968 interview:

As a community, living our life together, we think and act and work as a family,

suffering together when times are bad and rejoicing together when they are good,
always respecting each other. Not only has Kalk Bay been a place that we know as a

home, but it has also been like a mother that holds a family together through

familiarity and love.