Port St Johns

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Cachet: The cachet shows the coat of arms of Port St Johns, printed in full colour on the left of the cover. A fish eagle with wings raised stands on the left side of a shield, paired with a black cross on the right, above a lower band of wavy blue and white stripes representing water. Above the shield a stylised sea serpent curls beneath trailing vines and flowers, and the shield is flanked by two golden scroll shapes that curl outward like flames. A ribbon beneath the shield carries the motto "Animo et Fide". Above the crest the words "Port St Johns" appear in plain black serif type.

Info card

HISTORICAL PORT ST JOHNS Port St Johns probably derived its name from the Portuguese vessel São João which foundered near the mouth of the Umzimvubu River in 1552. The port of St Johns had been known and used to a small extent for many years but remained relatively unimportant until 1878. It was then that a commissioner of the Cape Colonial Government bought the river for about 15km from its mouth up, together with its banks and an area of land on the western side, from Umqikela, the Paramount Chief of the Pondos. The town of Port St Johns was surveyed in 1886, and it became a municipality in 1935. At one time it was the smallest municipality in the British Empire. Because of the siltation of the river, the last ship to enter the port was the MV Border, on 18 December 1944. 12c stamp Street scene in early Port St Johns The building depicted on this stamp was one of the earliest business emporiums at Port St Johns. Situated near the lower end of what later became known as Westgate Street, this building housed the original Post Office, with the furthest section serving as a woolmart owned and run by one of the original pioneers of Pondoland, Captain Sidney Turner. 20c stamp The coaster Umzimvubu at the old jetty This stamp shows the coaster Umzimvubu off-loading freight at the harbour jetty which was built on the west bank of the Umzimvubu River. (Umzi means "home of" or "the house of", and vubu means "hippopotamus".) The Umzimvubu was one of a number of small coasters which plied the East London-Port St Johns-Durban run, carrying freight and the odd passenger. The freight schedule was planned so as to allow the craft to reach and enter the harbour every two weeks when the spring tides would allow sufficient depth of water to cross the bar at the river mouth. If stormy seas made the passage over the bar too hazardous, the freighters would continue their journey without stopping at Port St Johns. A large part of the jetty was destroyed by fire in the late 1960s; the section that remained was swept out to sea by the floods of 1978. The Umzimvubu was lost when it ran aground on the north bank of the Umgeni River. 25c stamp Wagons off-loading at the jetty Transport wagons loaded with bags of maize due for export used to park in front of the warehouse on the west bank of the Umzimvubu River. The jetty was directly behind the warehouse. The transport drivers were responsible for the cartage of produce and goods into town, and the subsequent distribution of whatever had been imported. The wagons and teams would gather on the village green to await the freighters. If rough seas prohibited the freighters entering the harbour, the transport teams, if unable to negotiate a short-term local contract, were compelled to wait another two weeks until the next spring tides. 30c stamp The town at the end of the last century This stamp portrays a view of Port St Johns as it was at the turn of the century. It shows some of the main buildings which had been constructed around the business centre near the harbour area. The round, thatched buildings were some of the townsfolk's houses — standard building material was in short supply as it had to be brought in by freighter, and so the use of available materials and practical designs resulted in rondavel homes. The village green in the centre of the hamlet served as outspan for the transport wagons.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 6 February 1986 in Port St Johns. The four stamps, illustrated by A H Barrett, depict a street scene in early Port St Johns, the coaster Umzimvubu at the old jetty, wagons off-loading at the jetty and a view of the town at the end of the last century. Port St Johns takes its name from the Portuguese vessel São João, which was wrecked near the mouth of the Umzimvubu River in 1552. Despite this early recorded history, the settlement remained largely undeveloped until 1878, and once became known as the smallest municipality in the British Empire before river siltation ended shipping access altogether in 1944.

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