Salt Rock giant calls it a day

Umhlali legend and long-time local, Cas Steyn is bidding farewell to the Dolphin Coast.

When Steyn arrived at Umhlali Prep in the 70’s, the school and the entire area were entirely different creatures – it was not even uncommon for a stray pig to wander into class during a lesson.

Generations of Dolphin Coasters will remember ‘Mr Steyn’ as teacher and rugby coach as he taught there for more than two decades.

“When I first started teaching at Umhlali Prep it was a dual-medium school, whereas now it is only English.

“In the beginning I taught a group of standard three, four and five children in one class. In fact, before we had a classroom I taught them in the then-headmaster, Mr Chamberlain’s, kitchen.

Steyn remembers with a laugh when the school cut down a row of camphor trees for space and the smell was so strong that people in Salt Rock wondered at it.

Umhlali Prep was a very different place back then, as evidenced by the farm animals wandering around.

“One of the ground staff back then, Thabeti, raised pigs and chickens on the school grounds that would occasionally come strolling into a room mid-lesson.”

Before settling here Steyn visited the Dolphin Coast from as far back as the late 40’s, when he was a young child and his father brought the family here on holiday.

Steyn remembers a very different Dolphin Coast – one with much fewer people and a lot more natural abandunce.

There were apparently plenty more Yellowwood trees on the beach and a panapoly of birds, monkeys, crayfish, octopi and crabs to keep you company during an afternoon on the sand.

“When we first started coming here, there were only a few houses on the beach and a dirt road linking Ballito and Salt Rock.

“Where Santorini now stands there was only thick coastal forest where we went jogging and Willard Beach was shaded by massive trees that have since been cut down to make room for development.”

Bare-footed and towels over their shoulders – locals would visit the one Spar for groceries, they got their first telephone calls routed through the central switchboard where Eat Local now stands and would visit the drive-in theatre on the current site of the Ballito Bay Mall.

“Back then there was a dance hall at Chaka’s Cove where we had a lot of fun – there were also bowls and tennis courts.

“The hotel and hair salon were at one of the few lonely stop streets in the area and what passed for the municipal offices were nearby too – and I see that’s the case again in Salt Rock.”

The father of two and grandfather of four will now be moving to Hermanus in the Western Cape and is leaving behind decades of memories and more than one meandering story (just ask him about the time he shared a house with with famed former SABC news anchor Rian Cruywagen!).

“In those days, Sandton didn’t exist – there was just a horse-riding school.”

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