Port St Johns Stories

The Little Red Aeroplane The view south from Mthumbane Township, Port St Johns It had another wonderful Wild Coast weekend. Beautiful hot weather, good friends, fun things had happened. It was Sunday afternoon, Sunday brunches and lunches were over, people were relaxed, some taking afternoon naps, others catching the last bit of sun. Others had gone for constitutionals, walking along assorted beaches. One local was birdwatching, and was disturbed by a low flying helicopter. Idly she trained her binoculars on the helicopter as she watched it fly over First Beach and then disappear out of sight. She had no conscious memory of having memorized its ZA – number. A phone call came through to a local resident – a plane had just been seen crashing in to the sea, not far from shore. The description was ‘ a little red plane flying south’. Well, this was Sunday afternoon, the caller was known to enjoy a good many beers, and well, this sounded like he’d had one too many. ...

                                                         The Posting of Fish Both recreational fishing, and commercial fishing have been practiced in Port St Johns since humans first started settling here. Port St Johns as a tourism area, attracts all sorts of fishermen:  rock and surf, deep sea, fly fishermen, and many world records have been established in the area. Salt Water Fly Fishing Fish sources started dwindling in the 1990's, due to uncontrolled over fishing and exploitation. During the annual   ‘runs’ of cob (aka cape salmon or dagga), Garrick ( Leervis in Afrikaans) and spotted grunter, 100’s of these fish were caught, with catches of 10 or more per fisherman, per night, being common. The fish would be laid out on lawns for photographs, inspection and bragging by the fishermen.  Discussion...

                                                              DJ's in the Jungle Advertising in the press had gone on for months – the British Radio Station, Capital 604, was going to open a station in Port St Johns, and broadcast from there, 24 hours a day. It would reach Durban , East London, Johannesburg , and all the latest music would be played by top notch DJ’s from England and the United States . In 1976, Radio 5 (previously L M Radio), was regarded as mod, but they only broadcast in the major centers. Capital 604 would show the SABC what broadcasting was about. The mansion known as the Port Captain’s house on the hill overlooking Port St Johns, was turned into a radio station, the windows were all double glazed, so that the rooms could become studios. Broadcasting equipment was brought in, technical staff we...

                                      Second Beach - The most dangerous beach in the world? The most dangerous beach in the world, Second Beach, Port St Johns, wasn’t always the most dangerous beach in the world. A few years ago, before the phenomenon of shark attacks happened, it was one of the most relaxed, unspoilt beaches in the world. Port St Johns, the little village on the Wild Coast of Transkei, was a place that was on the top of most people’s holiday wish lists. A place that was difficult to get to, but that was relaxed, that when you did get to it, you forgot that the rest of the world existed. Its permanent residents were made up of an eclectic mix of artists, farmers, hippies, at one time the staff of the rebel radio station, Capital 604, at another stage; ex Rhodesian Selous Scouts, who trained up an elite army corps. Second beach, a picture perfect spot: whi...

                                                Our own little war in Port St Johns 28 March 1994, Johannesburg is remembered in South African history as a day of a terrible street battle, when warring factions of ANC supporters and IFP supporters clashed in a terrible fight that claimed lives, maimed healthy young bodies, and brought more shame to South Africa ’s bitter war against itself. The world reacted with horror to the day’s events, and there was global recoil as the bloody scenes were transmitted on television sets across the world. In Port St Johns we knew nothing of what was going on in Johannesburg . We were too busy thinking of our own survival, to tune into the news. We had gotten caught up in the crossfire between the local factions of the ANC and the PAC. It was during what I refer to as the ‘shoot a white days’, pre-elections, T...