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At this point a partial compromise was arranged by Council and in 1925 the convicts working on

completing Boyes Drive were instructed to put in rough steps from Boyes Drive to Duignam Road,
and then from Duignam Road to Gatesville Road. The top flight is still there nearly 100 years later.

(Fig. 3.35).

MacRobert Heights

Old maps and photos show that a walkway or road was intended to link Quarterdeck Road with

Duignam Road. Today the steps only lead up to three houses. This piece of relatively level ground

was bought by Mohammed Cozyn in 1908 – he was a boat-owner and fisherman from the long-
established Cozyn family. Next door lived the Imam Hassiem Fisher. These families have lived

there for more than 100 years, and still live there. (Figs. 3.36 & 3.37).

In the late 1960s Wilfred MacRobert moved from Pretoria to St James. He had been involved in
politics in opposition to the National Party Government and its racial policies for many years. He

and his wife Marion were actively involved in the campaign to stop the forced removal of the
Fishing Community from Kalk Bay in terms of the Group Areas Act. They hosted numerous

meetings at their home with, amongst others, Vincent Cloete and Kobus Poggenpoel, who were

influential leaders in the Kalk Bay community. This won Wilfred and Marion great respect and
admiration amongst the families who lived in the Fishermen’s Flats.

In 1973 Kalk Bay, Clovelly and St. James broke away from the Ward 17 Ratepayers Association,

that also included Muizenberg, and formed the Kalk Bay & District Ratepayers and Residents
Association. In this way all residents, whether ratepayers or not, could participate and vote at

meetings. It was a unique advance. Wilfred MacRobert was Chairman of the Association for many
years. (Fig. 3.38).

It is likely that around 1980 this flight of steps was named MacRobert Heights in honour of the
contribution that Wilf and Marion MacRobert had made to the Kalk Bay community.