Page 165 - Bulletin 21

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Van Blerk’s position in 1936 was that he was taking the following immediate action. He had

served all tenants with a one month notice to leave and he would then demolish all premises.
This was of course an incredibly cruel ploy to use – given the many poor fishing families in

these houses – 68 people in total. The lawyers went on to say that if the Slum declaration was
a means for Council to obtain ownership their client was open to negotiations.

They also said that their client was a very sick man and this shock slum declaration was

causing him severe health problems. This last may have been true as Gerhard van Blerk died
almost exactly two years later on 29 September 1938. At the end of what seemed to have

been an acrimonious hearing Council backed down and all properties were declared not to be

slums. They were all later acquired by Council for building the Flats and for land for the
Roman Catholic Mission School.

That the van Blerk legal team was stretching the truth in implying that everything was rosy as

far as the occupants were concerned can be judged from the fishermen’s champion for better
housing, Louis Ladan.

In a June 1937 letter he said among other things:

‘Gentlemen, at the corner of Barton and Hare Roads a woman still stands washing on
the road the whole week round, and all the washing water goes into the ground.

Wash-water, fish-water, night soil water all goes into the ground over a public

road….resulting the horrible smell I have complained about when entering Harbour
Road’

He went on to say that when a passing Health Inspector had told a woman not to throw night

soil in the road she had just missed his head with it and said there was nowhere else to put it.
(Fig. 4.49.) The inhabitants of these places were trapped by circumstances – no one would

want to live like this.

The well-known Clarence family lived in this part of Die Land and 95 year old George

(Uncle Jorsie) Clarence gave a hint of a hard life in a 2017 interview: (Fig. 4.50.)

As a boy he lived in one of the van Blerk cottages in Die Land and their neighbours

were the Menigos. Life was hard but there was a lot of family support. All the children
had chores and one of his was to collect fire wood on the mountain. There was a cold