Early
History of First Filipino Settlers in the Western Cape
(Kalk Bay), South Africa
Kalk Bay, the little fishing village in the Western Cape, witnessed the
arrival of the first Filipino (fishermen) settlers in the history of South
Africa. With the abundance of fish in False Bay, the arrival of these
fishermen in the mid-1800’s signaled a major development in the
establishment of a fishing industry in Kalk Bay. Soon thereafter, as huge
crowds descended on Kalk Bay, a new community was formed from 1895 to
1913.
Quite
a number of stories have been told of how these Filipino fisher folks
found their way into Kalk Bay, and here are some of those:
?
A ship from the Philippines was wrecked near Cape Point (c.1860) and rested
in Kalk Bay while trying to make its way to Cape Town;
? Ship deserters then settled in Kalk Bay; these were Filipinos who fled
from the Philippines after the rise of national sentiment, which resulted
in imprisonments or exile from Spanish rule; Felix Florez , one of the
first Filipino ship deserters (1873) from a South Confederate Ship, allegedly
influenced many Filipino crewmembers to desert their ships while anchored
off Simon’s Town;
Felix
Florez, who came from the island of Panay, and who was born of a Spanish
father and a Filipino mother, a devout Catholic until his death in the
1890’s, became the leader of a small community of the Filipinos
who settled in Kalk Bay. He was respected and feared, and established
himself quite well, as well as becoming a source of security to all Filipinos
in the little fishing village.
Although
the abundance of fish in the False Bay is magnanimous, life in the little
fishing village was not at all a bed-of-roses. These fishermen were forced
to row and sail their fishing boats as far into the False Bay in search
of fish and returned only after a few days. Back sprains, ruptures, heart
and muscular ailments, flu and fever (especially during winter season),
were common ailments being experienced by these fisher folks, over and
above the meager income they received after all their hard days work.
Medical reports and church records indicated that the life span of these
fishermen was between 40 and 50 years.
As
a result, other members of the family like the wives and their children,
particularly the boys, were sent to work as domestics in houses and hotels
and trained in the basic skills of fishing, chopping and collection of
wood at times.
During
these hard times, Father Duignam (1874-1925), the Venerable Archdeacon
Richard Brooke (1901-1922), Lt. Col. Henry Ashton (1860-1871), attended
to the needs of the community as follows:
- Gave
assistance to those affected by the great flu epidemic of 1918;
- Instigated
many petitions in the interests of the fishermen;
- Offered
decent burial services to fishermen;
- Built
a Catholic church at St. James;
- Being
mentor and benefactor to the Filipino fishermen.
After
the Spanish and American occupations most of the Filipino fishermen stayed
in South Africa but never forget their original mother land. It was alleged
that there were about 30 to 40 true blooded Filipinos that remained (and
later multiplied in the course of inter-marriages with the coloured folks)
in Kalk Bay.
Today,
although few in numbers, some of these fishermen moved on and established
themselves in other parts of the Cape peninsula, but their stories still
remain to be told.
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