Page 136 - Bulletin 7 2003

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their fish because the SAR & H stipulated that the harbour gates would be locked
after 4pm and re-opened again by an employee who came to Kalk Bay by train from

Lakeside at 9am the following morning. His specific job was to unlock the gates for
the traffic wishing to enter the harbour. And every time the bell rang at the crossing

he would stand there with his red flag, day after day, year after year, in order to warn

of an approaching train and that no one should cross the line – completely ignoring
the fact that there was a community of hundreds of fishermen and scores of buyers

waiting to commence their business.

In conjunction with the summer fish that were now being caught in masses, because
of the bigger 25 – 35 ft. boats with 30 – 40 hp engines, they were also able to explore

the deeper waters of False Bay and beyond Cape Hangklip. Many wonderful fishing

banks (bottom feeders) were discovered which the skippers gave such wonderful
names such as “The gold mines”, “Honderd bos” meaning one could catch up to 100

bunches per person. Another one that was discovered in a completely different area

was called “Bank of Johannesburg”, implying that gold was found there. Yet another
was called “Ver in die Veld” daar le die geld. And there were scores of fishing banks

in the deep that were fished on with the skippers using landmarks to locate their
banks. The skippers who knew the best and richest banks always had the best crews

because they would earn more with those skippers.

Later on, in 1940 - 1945, the Fishermen’s Flats were built and so these hardy people

realized that things were changing for people of colour, but with little reward for the
fisherman himself. So they started getting their sons and daughters educated to fit in

with the rest of the world around them. And that was really the end of an era in
which men worked hard but really had no benefits from their hard work.

Conclusion

A sad part of the picture was that there was never enough housing in Kalk Bay for
the fishermen. Any young fisherman getting married had to move elsewhere to

places like Retreat, Heathfield, Steenberg, and, much later, Mitchell’s Plain. So they