A business initiated from a converted bus

The story goes back to the 1940s when Mr. Hans Mickeleit settled in Hout Bay and started a Cafe in a converted bus in the harbour. Hans originated from the small East German town of Swinemunde where as a young boy he had watched fish being smoked. He was a Master Mariner and in 1939 as First Officer on a freighter bound for Japan he got as far as Durban when war was declared.  He was interned by the SA Government at an internment camp in Baviaanspoort and Pietermaritzburg.  At the end of the war there was no transport back home and at the invitation of Ernst Trautman he came to Hout Bay, fell in love with the place and arranged for his wife and children to emigrate to South Africa.

The Mickeleits bought an old bus, and Mr. Mickeleit, who was an excellent craftsman and carpenter, converted the bus into a Cafe and positioned it at the end of Harbour Road next to the West Fort where Fish on the Rocks stands today. The take-away cafe which they named Snoekies, served a necessary function supplying snacks and hot coffee to fishermen while they waited for the shoals of fish to enter the bay for trekking, or to board the fishing boats.

While Mrs. Mickeleit ran the Cafe Mr. Mickeleit experimented with smoking fish as he had seen fish being smoked in his childhood.  The smoked snoek, harders, mackerel and sole sold well at the cafe, and on Sundays they were soon selling as much as 25 kg.  Mr. Mickeleit found it difficult to keep up with the demand and his premises for preparing the fish in the garage of his house in Beach Estate was closed by the authorities as it was in a residential area.  He was, however, offered a site at the harbour where he built his own factory in 1956.  Every morning a load of smoked fish was flown to Johannesburg.

Mr Mickeleit devised a smoking and curing process which turned hake into a product as good as imported salmon. However, due to the expense and the time required, the process proved to be unprofitable.

In 1959 the business, together with Mr. Mickeleit’s secret for smoking fish, was sold to South African Sea Products.

Today Snoekies is situated at the far-end of Hout Bay Harbour - continuing to provide locals and travelers with tasty seafood take-aways and fresh fish. The business comprises a fish and chips take-away/diner and a fresh fish market.  The fresh fish market now also stocks a variety of fresh, live and frozen seafood and a deli range.

Snoekies was recently bought by entrepreneurs Deon van Zyl and Marco Paioni from South African Sea Products and will soon be opening shops in the suburbs, thus building and growing this strong fish brand.