Struisbaai is a coastal town in the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...

region of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province. The town is in the

Cape Agulhas Local Municipality Cape Agulhas Municipality ( af, Kaap Agulhas Plaaslike Munisipaliteit) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. it had a population of 33,038. Its municipality code is WC033. It is named after Cape Agulhas, the sout ...

in the Overberg District, about two hundred kilometres south east of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and four kilometres from

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

, which is the southernmost point of the

African continent Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The town is an old fishing village which for many years sported a beautiful natural harbour. Some development has taken place since then but Struisbaai is still relatively untouched by the rigours of over-development. Many fishermen still reside in this settlement but it is now known better for its leisure activities, which include fishing, horseriding, hiking, paintball, quadbiking and diving.

History

The exact origins of the name of Struisbaai, however, is still a subject of debate. The various historical stories uncover 3 different origins for the name of the town. The first being accredited to the thatch or straw (strooi in Afrikaans) roofs of the fisherman cottages scattered along the coast. Another is the ostriches ("struisvogel" in Dutch) that used to call this area their home, while others believe the name was derived from an old Dutch word meaning "huge" given due to the long stretches of beach. The last origin seems more plausible as Struisbaai holds the longest beach in the Southern Hemisphere which stretches for a total of 14 kilometres. Struisbaai also hosts the annual Geelstertfees ( Yellowtail festival) which revolves around foodstalls, artists and musical performers. Othe
Top Attractions
in the town include the colourful, bustling Struisbaai Harbour where visitors can see the traditional fisherman bring in their daily catch and buy fresh fish. Also not to be missed, is the resident stingray Parrie making an appearance. The waters off Struisbaai have traditionally been treacherous for shipping, with at least 30 vessels that have run aground since 1673. One of them was the

Meermin ''Meermin'' () was an 18th-century Dutch cargo ship of the type, one of many built and owned by the Dutch East India Company. She was laid down in 1759 and fitted out as a slave ship before her maiden voyage in 1761, and her career was cut sh ...

that stranded in 1766 after a mutiny by the Malagasy slaves that she was carrying, while another was the French ship Jardinière which sank 28 years later. Prior to apartheid, Struisbaai was racially mixed. After the passing of the Group Areas Act, the apartheid government began evicting colored residents and demolishing their homes. Families were promised R48,000 compensation but only ever received half. Some families were put in houses in Rondomskrik, today known as Struisbaai Noord. Other families were forced to live in shacks with dozens of people occupying the same quarters. Colored fishermen who had previously lived near the harbor were forced to walk over three kilometers to their boats and were restricted from being in the white part of town after 6:00 PM. The legacy of apartheid remains visible today with the Struisbaai Noord remaining largely colored while the main part of town near the harbor is predominantly white.

History

References

External links