THE PASSING OF “SELUKWE”: Many local fishermen will join in sympathising with Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Fourie, of Hermanus, on the tragedy which has overtaken their fishing boat “Selukwe”, so well-known here over a number of years and now a charred wreck in a Cape Town shipyard after a fire which gutted the place last week.
The “Selukwe” (which in the Bantu tongue means “Maid of the Mist”) was about 24 ft. long, shaped like a torpedo and had such a powerful engine that she used to pass all other boats without effort. Fishermen were always glad to go out in her, especially when Mr. Fourie went along too, and she used to bring in a tremendous quantity of fish including much tunney. The fishermen had a special song for her which began “Selukwe maak vir almal lekker.”
Visitors also had many pleasure trips in her, particularly when the Fouries owned the Astoria Hotel.
When the “Vanguard” passed the Hermanus coast during the time of the King and Queen’s visit, “Selukwe” was one of the few fishing boats to approach the great ship through a very rough sea and, indeed, got so near that the sailors on board cheered her.
She was one of the first fishing-boats to put into the New Harbour and it was there that she caught alight and had to be sent to Cape Town for repairs. Misfortune seemed to have marked her down for whilst she was in the shipyard a fire broke out and she was completely destroyed.
