Part II – Traditional Fishers the Backbone of Kalk Bay

In Part 2, ANDY JOHNSTON peers back into Kalk Bay’s past to separate fact from fiction.

 “With regard to the fishermen themselves, those at Kalk Bay and at places distant from towns usually adopt that calling when young and follow it all their lives; but in Cape Town many of the men …. are half carpenters, masons, or coolies who only go out fishing when they cannot get other work, and even when fishing pays best they frequently prefer to remain on shore lest they be unable to obtain employment when the fish are scarce.”

Government report 1892.

The authorities regarded the working fisher folk as a rough, loud-mouthed, violent and most troublesome bunch. However discrimination against them does not feature prominently in historical records.

Boat crews were deemed the working class and identified racially and ethnically. They were also regarded as members of society’s lower class — very much similar to today.