Tourism Margate
Tel 039 312 2322
Margate Information Office
Tel 039 312 2322
KwaZulu-Natal Nature Concervation Cervice
Tel 039 315 0112
Natal Sharks Board
Tel 039 317 4511
The land surveyor involved obviously hankered after the holidays of his youth at the bustling seaside resort in Kent...for in 1921 very little was happening in this Margate when he changed its name from Inkongweni. The land had been purchased by Hugh Balance, who recognised its tourist potential, but could persuade only one fellow- investor to share his dream. Publicity was needed, and in 1922 millions of newspaper readers around the globe suddenly 'discovered' Margate when Balance wrote to the world s press about the beached remains of a 'mammoth', hairy and bloodless monster he had witnessed being killed by two whales in a titanic struggle just beyond the breakers. A spring tide removed the evidence before a flurry of scientific enquiry could descend on the town and quite possibly ruin the author s credibility. Our Margate was now highlighted on every atlas, though, and has never looked back. Dubious marketing ploys have been discouraged ever since!
The Greater Margate area includes the following former villages: Shelley Beach, St Michaels-on-Sea, Uvongo, Ramsgate and Southbroom.
