Looking back on South Coast history: August 23 to 25

PORT Shepstone’s medical facilities developed slowly.

August 23

1935
“THE necessity for the early installation of an x-ray plant in the Port Shepstone Hospital has been amply displayed during the past week, when two patients had to be taken to Durban to have x-ray examinations, with the consequent danger of travel by road and rail.”

BUT there was good news for motorists. “The members of the motoring public will be pleased to learn that the Uvongo bridge is now open to traffic, thus removing the nightmare to all up-country motorists, who ever dreaded going through the notorious ‘dip’.”

1957
WATER supplies, always an issue on the South Coast, came into the spotlight with reports that the Eyles Dam was silting up at alarming rate. “According to echo sounding tests made by the Lower South Coast Regional Water Supply Corporation in June 1956 and May 1957, the rate of siltation over the past year has been a staggering 4,5 percent.”

1968
“FRIDAY was a red letter day for Port Shepstone, when the Minister of National Education laid the foundation stone of the new R1-million Southern Natal Commercial High School.”

1985
SHELLY Beach was the focus of attention. “The South Coast’s first major shopping mall, which overnight has transformed the sleepy town of Shelly Beach into a major, bustling shopping centre, was opened with much fanfare.”

AND… “History was made last week when The Last Outpost of Shelly Beach became the first place on the Lower South Coast to boast an escalator.”

MEANWHILE, the Palm Beach Ratepayers Association was asking for the whole of Palm Beach to be declared Indian.

August 24

1951
THE latest innovations were not always accepted immediately by the conservative population, as was the case with nylon fishing line. “Many anglers in Natal have had considerable experience with monofilament as a line and there are some who still find it unpredictable in behaviour, making it unreliable for fishing.”

1956
WETLANDS came into the public eye, along with the vital need to preserve catchment ‘sponges’. “Following their attendance at the Umgeni Catchment Area Committee meeting, Port Shepstone Council delegates have intimated their intention of spearheading a determined move to conserve water and soil in southern Natal.”
1982
MORE environmental warnings… “Sand winning operations in the Mpenjati river are inflicting extensive and irreparable damage on the river verges and its accompanying vegetation.”

1990
“AS part of its efforts to conserve the environment, Eskom used a helicopter to sling power lines across the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve.”

August 25

1950
WHILE Douglas Mitchell MP was flaying the Nationalist Government for its “complete, quivering ineptitude” and “palsied hands at the helm”, Gerald Hammond, member of the Natal Provincial Council for Umzimkhulu, was rebuking ‘fence-sitters’. “The so-called ‘floating vote’ is that of people who, while accepting the privileges of democracy, are not prepared to shoulder its responsibilities. There were too many people in Natal who fell into the category of ‘fence-sitters’ and it was they who had put the Nationalist Government in power.”

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