City presents civic awards to two Hout Bay residents
Two well-known figures in the Hout Bay were recognised for their efforts to make their community a better place.
At the City of Cape Town’s Civic Awards held on Monday, Hout Bay businessman, Stanley Dorman, and founder of the Parley Oceans School, Frank Solomons, received special awards recognising their contributions to improving Hout Bay through various projects and initiatives.
Mr Solomon coaches children at the Hout Bay Lifesaving Club, and, in 2017, he founded the Sentinel Ocean Alliance, a non-profit company that creates ocean-based opportunities for the underprivileged youth of Hout Bay.
He started working with Parley for the Oceans, an organisation which tackles environmental threats to the oceans, to form the Parley Ocean School, where they teach children about the environment and expose them to marine conservation, (“Guardians of the ocean”, Sentinel News, December 4, 2020).
Mr Solomons was delighted to have received this latest award.
“When I started the project in 2018, it was just a vacant piece of land next to the toilets. Now we have 100s of kids a week coming through the various programs. With over 20+ people employed at the site including all the coaches and staff and a coffee shop,” he told Sentinel News.
He does not plan to stop there, setting his sights on building a “world class lifesaving club” for Hout Bay, above the existing toilets at Hout Bay Beach.
“Ward councillor’s support for our programme and for my plan for the new lifesaving club has been amazing and I look forward to building on the great relationship we have with the City of Cape Town,” Mr Solomons said.
Ward councillors have the discretionary privilege of annually conferring civic honours in any person, organisation or official, who the councillor feels has contributed to the well-being of the community or environment in his or her ward.
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas nominated the recipients of the awards and said both “deserved to be acknowledged”.
Mr Quintas described Mr Solomon as a young philanthropist who dedicated his time and resources to “fostering a love of the ocean” by the youth of Hangberg and Imizamo Yethu.
“His programmes have made the sea a safer space for many of our youth, whom have been taught swimming, surfing, stand up paddling and a host of other ocean sports,” he said.
In return, Mr Quintas explained that youth have been actively involving themselves in programs around Hout Bay, assisting in litter clearing on the beaches and harbour.
“They also have educational programmes on the ocean and how we as a society, and they as the adults of tomorrow, will be custodians of our precious and fragile marine environment,” he said.
The second recipient was Stanley Dorman, famously known for owning the iconic Mariner’s Wharf, but in this case, was recognised for his sterling efforts towards improving Hout Bay.
"It is an honour I appreciate very much, but when all has been said and done credit must also be given to my wife Pam, my sons and the superb managers and staff employed since Mariner's Wharf's inception,“ he said.
He added that more recently, Fisherman's World and its malls had become an integral part of his planning and it was good to see the hundreds of employment opportunities being created.
"I love Hout Bay and will continue to strive for its rightful place as one of the most beautiful villages, valleys and bays in the world," Mr Dorman said.
Mr Quintas explained that Mr Dorman was someone who had always remained passionate about Hout Bay since childhood.
“His dedication to promoting Hout Bay as a tourism and business investment location has been a decades long pursuit,” Mr Quintas said.
He added that Mr Dorman’s commitment to seeing communities having access to work opportunities on their doorstep has seen him keeping the various doors of his multiple business offerings open.
“By investing more and more over many years in the fabric of Hout Bay, it has fostered job creation for local people over generations,” Mr Quintas said.