The Racial Divide and Milnerton's Efforts to Bridge It.
As early as 23 January 1907, the Cape Times Weekly carried an advertisement for Milnerton, which stated, inter alia: "MILNERTON The Popular Marine Suburb Reserved for European Residents…" This was long before the promulgation of the Group Areas Act, under which residential areas were racially segregated by law, so this decision to reserve the new township for whites only must have been that of the directors of Milnerton Estates. Significantly, too, sport was racially segregated, with the directors being "startled" in May that year by a request to permit "coloured" rugby teams to use the Milnerton Rugby Football and Athletics Ground. To their credit, they gave their consent, but with the proviso that "the [Western Province] Rugby Union is satisfied that the playing of Coloured matches and Union matches on the same ground at the same time will not be taken exception to." Later in the same year, there was a dispute between a Mr McGregor...