Farewell to the Father of Ballito

After 102 eventful years on this earth, the Father of Ballito, Jack Nash, passed away on Sunday after a short period of illness.

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 who created a destination from nothing.

Only a few cottages, belonging to sugar farmers, previously graced the coastline. His nickname, Jack-in-the-Box came from his scramble to organise the 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.

He found his cover girl with the stunning ballerina, Gaye Fripp, and was instantly smitten. They were married five months later.

“It was quite scandalous, people said we would never last,” laughed Gaye, who retired to Amber Valley in Howick with Jack. Needless to say, they lasted.

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.

One of the Ballito days Jack never forgot was November 23, 1954, when the first plots were sold – 73 plots on a single day – and a beachfront plot went for £700.

His legacy will live on through his book, ‘The Birth of Ballito – Pearl of the North Coast’, which told the 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.

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