THE CHAIN GANG

David Bloomberg provides well-written, humorous and fair-minded historical account of mayors of Cape Town. (Review by Michael Green)

A chain gang is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as a group of convicts chained together while working outside the prison. The chain gang of this book, however, is the long line of mayors of Cape Town dating back to G.J. de Korte, who became mayor of the city in 1867, and the chain is of course the mayoral chain.
The author of the book, David Bloomberg, is himself a member of the chain gang, having been mayor of Cape Town from 1973 to l975 (his father, Abe Bloomberg, was mayor from 1945 to 1947). He has written a most readable and entertaining account of the diverse characters who have occupied the chair of Van Riebeeck, used by mayors when they preside over council meetings and said to have been used by Commander Jan van Riebeeck himself.

To some extent the book touches on the history of Cape Town from Victorian times to the present, but of course the personalities dominate these pages, and there are a large number of good illustrations, including a photograph of Mayor Abe Bloomberg presenting the then Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth) with a golden key in 1947 to mark her twenty-first birthday.

I must admit to a special interest in connection with this book. I was at school with David Bloomberg, and as the municipal reporter of the Cape Argus newspaper for several years in the nineteen-fifties I knew many of these mayors quite well (especially when they were seeking publicity while campaigning for office).

Obviously this book will have most appeal for people who live or have lived in Cape Town, but other readers who are interested in a broader historical picture than their own parish will derive much pleasure from it. It is well-written, humorous and fair-minded.

The Chain Gang by David Bloomberg is published by Ampersand Press. - Michael Green