Tuesday, 22 July, 1986: Port Elizabeth – An Impressive Indian Ocean Port City

A quiet, solitary, uneventful day for once – I need one!  I get up early to take sunrise photos at Kings Beach.  After breakfast, I do my laundry and write.

Sunrise, Port Elizabeth, July 22, 1986.  Algoa Bay and tanker.

 

Around 12:30, I catch a cab which takes me to the Algoa Bay Rotary Club Meeting.  It’s another mostly boring group of about 45 older white men and one coloured guy. The men are friendly, but Christ, am I getting sick of Rotary.  The meetings are boring and the food is bland.  Today’s menu includes overcooked roast beef, canned vegetables, and vanilla ice cream with a miniscule bit of chocolate coating.  I do talk to an interesting clergyman who says he can introduce me to “some people” with more notice if I get to PE again.

I get a ride back to downtown with John, and English-speaking accountant in his late 40s.  He’s lived in PE all his life.  John says Afrikaners have worked their way into economic prosperity in 38 years of National Party rule.  I tell him I’ve noticed that all civil service jobs (railroad, post office, telecommunications, etc.) seem to be filled by Afrikaners.  He agrees and says that government service is where “have-nots” start.  They move into business and professional positions later or in the next generation.  He feels the Afrikaners have progressed economically to the point where they no longer feel the need for apartheid.  They are now in a position to share without losing what they’ve got.  It makes sense to me that apartheid is more about economics than about pure racism.  Of course, political leaders exploit racist leanings of their minions.  

I tell John about my walk around PE after dinner last night.  I’m really impressed with the city.  The old row houses on the hillsides overlooking the harbor give the city a San Francisco flair,  And the weather – superb.  You call this winter!  Gawd, this is summer where I come from.  How sad it is that this beautiful city may go down the tubes because South Africa can’t sort out its racial problems.  

John says you’d be hard put to find a house here selling for more than R200,000.  The row houses would go for about 60.  A fucking steal, man.  Of course, he points out that anyone here making the equivalent of US$25,000 at today’s exchange rates would be a high roller.  The economy in PE hasn’t been very hot especially after Ford moved to Jo’burg last year.  GM is still here, however.  

Port Elizabeth harbor viewed from the Campanile tower.

The rest of the afternoon, I take lots of photos and write.  For dinner, I have an excellent falafel sandwich at a little Jewish restaurant.  Later, I sit around the grand Hotel bar listening to a black band for an hour before hitting the hay.  The band is good but wow – do I get bored sitting in bars by myself.  It’s too noisy in this bar to talk, and there are no cute women to ogle.  I’m feeling lonely tonight, but at least I’m getting enough rest.  I’m almost caught up on my writing and my time is mine.