Systems, towns, people and religions do not operate in a vacuum. Rivalries and competing visions form the cornerstone of civilisation, and so it was for the infant town of Port Elizabeth. Competing interests without the best interests of this struggling Bay at heart, sought to create an environment advantageous to themselves. One of these competing visions was the most suitable location of the proposed harbour on the Eastern Province coast.

This contestation, which forms the focus of this blog, could rather have been titled “The Tale of Two Harbours” but as I have already dealt extensively with development of PE’s harbour, the focus now will predominantly be on the Kowie Harbour..

Main picture: Kowie River with sailing boats of yore

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