 |
Once lived in
'De Waterkant'
Brian
Nel
De
Waterkant lives again with new arrivals and visitors returning
daily to Cape Town's heartland, once a bustling dockside
suburb teaming with all the 1950's had to offer. Now with
a new identity as trendy and fashionable, elder generations
reflect on their days in the area before the elevated freeway
cut them off from the docks, and the group areas act scattered
them across the windswept Cape flats.
40 years have passed since
black families rented rooms from their Malay landlords and
lived in this cosmopolitan dockside suburb.
A colourful mix
Attending the local school in Prestwich Street was a colourful
mix of black, Malay and European children, descendants of
the slaves and immigrants from all corners of the globe.
|
| |
After school these children
would slip into the docklands to watch the fisherman at work,
swim at the Mouille Point Beach or stroll on rocky shoreline.
On their way home they would pass beachfront hotels in Mouille
Point and beg a treat from the staff who always gave with
delight to these sweet natured beggars.
|
| |
Three sisters reminisce
Remembering this well are three sisters born in Somerset Hospital
when their family was living first on Vos street and later
in Jarvis street in de Waterkant. Crowded, as it was these
are not the memories that linger, but memories of the bustling
activity of the "shebeens" selling liquor in the
neighbouring home styled pubs. Dockside workers would come
into the area after a days work seeking respite from their
harsh days work and find it in these home pubs. These sisters
remember the cloak and dagger of these home pubs operated
against the wishes of their staunch Malay landlords, and the
ever-present police.
Dances were held
The second eldest sister Nita remembers with a twinkle in
her eye how, as teenagers, she and her sisters caught the
eyes of many suitors who passed through. Dances were held
at the corner of Dixon and Jarvis street in a basement,
now housing the Castro pool lounge.
Dance cards were noted
A gramophone provided music, or on special occasions makeshift
bands attended and requests for popular tunes were made
upon entering. Ladies would also indicate at their arrival
how many suitors they would be prepared to dance with and
their dance cards were noted accordingly. Nita remembers
a new dance craze, the Jive, and giggles when she tells
how she quickly became an expert dance partner. This basement
venue was the hive of social activities and is where Audrey,
the youngest of the sisters celebrated her wedding reception.
|
| |
Sisters
got married
It was in de Waterkant where all the sisters met and married
their husbands and she adds that her eldest sister Mavis
even married a sailor, after which she moved into her own
rented room at the back of Allies corner café on
Somerset Road.
A knock on the door…
By 1963 the ominous knock on the door heralded a new destiny
for black communities in de Waterkant as they were informed
of the Group areas act. New homes were awaiting them at
Gugulethu with no trees on the windswept plains. Even though
the new homes were less cramped than their single room,
it was far from all that was familiar.
Ironically the sisters mention
that their landlords themselves fell victim to the Group
Areas act and the last of the cosmopolitan communities left
by the end of the 1960's, leaving the area with very little
of it's original cosmopolitan feel.
During the seventies came the elevated freeway cutting the
link to the dockside and the area slumped into a lifeless
light industrial suburb.
|
 |
| |
A
new beginning
Fortunately the area was given a renewed lease of life with
the advent of democracy and development of the neighbouring
V&A Waterfront and City Centre.
The same sisters
Our sisters have spent these years raising their families
in Gugulethu and creating new homes and opportunities for
themselves. They have now formed their own catering concern
and offer the traditional dishes of their childhood, learnt
from their mother in the single room in Jarvis street. A
township tour would not be complete without a visit to these
sisters and a traditional meal in their new homes.
|
| |
Brian can be contacted for township
tours or bookings for township meals on +27(0)82 9246199
|
|
|
|
