Community casts its envious eyes on navy’s no-go beach
● Fish spotter Kenneth George is unimpressed. He can see supper cruising past the navy’s R1bn warships but he can’t get to it, because it is hovering just off the navy’s private beach in Simon’s Town.
“We would like to use that area,” said George from his perch atop Red Hill overlooking the navy’s 250-year-old Admiralty House and adjoining beach. If the fish lie in there, they don’t come out.”
George is one of numerous Simon’s Town residents calling for an end to the navy’s exclusive use of Admiralty House and a pristine section of Long Beach.
The 18th-century building has historically been used as the chief of the navy’s residence and more recently as VIP accommodation for visiting admirals and for navy functions.
A 1913 map shows the private waterfront used to have its own changing booth, shark net and bathing area.
This week several residents complained that public access to the historic property was prohibited, unlike in the past when residents could wander through the gardens and on to the beach on “open days”.
Beachgoers and trek fishermen using the western corner of the beach said they accepted the status quo but hoped it could be relaxed.
A large “no trespassing” sign is mounted on a security fence slanting into the sea.
A man sunning himself on the adjoining rocks said he had never seen anyone in the exclusion zone.
A paddler on the beach who had tried to moor his kayak off Admiralty House said he was chased away by a navy strike craft. “It was like a James Bond movie,” he said.
Two scuba divers said they skirt the area, though one admitted to sneaking in, and swimmer Teru Adamson said she sometimes rounded the fence.
“The unspoken rule is that you don’t get out on the beach.”
But trekkers said the VIP security came at a cost to their livelihood. “We have to wait for the fish to come out of there,” said one. “If the fish don’t come out, we lose out – it affects us financially.”
Another crew member, Ashraf Walker, said the government should prioritise fishermen and ordinary citizens rather than VIPs, adding that coloured families had lost some prime fishing sites when public land was taken over by the navy.
George said he was baptised on a Simon’s Town beach but now was excluded from the best section. “We would love to be under the trees there [in the VIP area]. Instead, when we put our umbrellas up the wind blows them away.”
We have to wait for the fish to come out of there. If the fish don’t come out, we lose out – it affects us financially
Kenneth George
Fish spotter
But navy sources said it was unreasonable to expect public access to strategic property adjoining the western dockyard.
“This frivolous complaint can only harden the navy’s distrust of the community — something we are trying hard to improve.”
Simon’s Town Historical Society former chair David Erickson said the public needed to appreciate the navy’s obvious need for security.
“There is no indication whatsoever of any local unhappiness with this historic security arrangement,” he said.
The navy’s Greyling van den Berg said Admiralty House was part of a military base. “It is used on a daily basis to accommodate admirals who visit Cape Town for official duty. It is also the official residence of chief of the navy when he is in Cape Town. Access to any military base will remain restricted.