Ballito’s Jack-in-the-Box centenary lunch

Jack Nash, long honoured as the Father of Ballito, was welcomed home last week for a special lunch in his honour. The North Coast Courier and the Lifestyle Centre hosted Jack, his wife Gaye and their son Paul for a celebration at Beira Alta in anticipation of Jack’s 100th birthday on January 22.
Jack, author of ‘The Birth of Ballito – Pearl of the North Coast’, favoured guests with stories from the town’s audacious inception. From his first sighting of the untouched coastline in 1953 and negotiations with the landowner, sugar cane farmer Basil Townsend, to how the town was named after an Italian brand of stockings.
As the town’s first estate agent Jack was involved from the beginning, working for Glen Anil developer Dr Eddie Rubenstein and property agent Ashley Clive-Smith, the men created a destination from nothing. Only a few cottages, belonging to sugar farmers, previously graced the coastline.
Jack, nickname Jack-in-the-Box, relates how they scrambled to organise their first sales campaign and to get the access roads ready before Christmas 1954 to catch the holiday visitors to Durban. The main problem he encountered was finding a ‘pretty girl’ to pose for the brochure.
“When we did consider a possible candidate, more often than not her parents would not approve of their daughter becoming a cover girl,” said Jack.
When the stunning ballerina Gaye Fripp was discovered Jack was instantly smitten. They were married five months later.
“It was quite scandalous, people said we would never last,” laughed Gaye. Their second son Andrew was the first baby to be born in Ballito. Gaye’s father, Reg, built 160 houses in the township, many of which still stand today.
The first plots were sold on November 23 1954 – a total of 73 plots on a single day – and a beachfront plot went for £700.
“It was a day I have never forgotten,” said Jack.
But it was not all easy sailing and Jack said their were many times they worried that Ballito might never take off.
“The salesman had to work on the imagination of his client and make him visualise that, despite there being no roads, water or light, his investment would definitely appreciate.”
Jack and Gaye now live at Amber Valley in Howick, but their love for the town has in no way diminished by their absence.