Page 82 - Bulletin 7 2003

79

THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY AT ROGGE BAY

Tony Introna

Introduction

These are some notes on the early Italians who settled in the Cape and worked in the
th
fishing industry at the end of the 19 century and onwards.

Research done by Duncan Grant in 1966-67 for his UCT Honours dissertation tells of

the decline of the Rogge Bay fishing industry between 1890 – 1920. The people

involved in the industry were mainly Moslems, coloured, Africans (a small number),
and the latest threat at the time – the Italians – who arrived in the Cape in the 1890s.

This community was small – about 35 married men with maybe 105 dependents, and

70 bachelors.

The formation of the Italian Community

The Italians arrived in the mid-1890s with nothing, but by 1904 they had acquired 30
– 40 fishing boats. It has been suggested that they acquired capital by kreefing. By

1911 it was said that 10,000 kreef were being caught per day. This provided the

capital to buy and operate their own boats and concentrate on fish which gave a
bigger return. This led to bigger boats that were partially decked-in and safer. In

1910 the Italian fleet was claimed to have 25 quarter-decked-sized boats and a steam-
boat. These figures were more accurate than the 1904 figures in the sense that those

boats were mainly open boats used for beach-trekking. Of the boats’ style and size I
cannot tell much as I was too young, though I do know I was on my father’s boat

once or twice when we were waiting for him when he returned from the sea. I have

heard tell it was about 32 ft, possibly smaller, with a single cylinder Lister engine.