HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
1. The major part of the Indian community, which has retained a distinct ethnic sub-identity, came to South Africa between 1860 and 1911 as indentured farm labourers to serve as field hands and mill operatives in the sugar and other agricultural plantations of Natal (which was then a British colony). Although they were given the opportunity to return home on completion of their contracts, most preferred to stay on, either as farmers on crown land in Natal or as petty businessmen.
2. Most of the initial migrants were drawn from what is today Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with some from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A second wave of Indians came after 1880. These were the "passenger Indians" – so-called because they paid their fares as passengers on board steamships bound for South Africa. This was the community of traders mainly from Gujarat.
POPULATION, REGIONAL & LINGUISTIC DISTRIBUTION
3. The South African Indian origin community currently numbers around 1.15 million and constitutes about 2.5% of South Africa's total population of 45.45 million. About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, about 15% in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in the Cape Town area. In KwaZulu-Natal, the major concentration of the Indian population is in Durban. The largest concentrations of Indian settlement are at Chatsworth, Phoenix, Tongaat and Stanger in the Durban Coastal area, which covers approximately 500,000 of the Indian origin community. Pietermaritzburg – noted for its link with Mahatma Gandhi - has a community of approximately 200,000.
4. Smaller inland towns in KwaZulu Natal such as Ladysmith, Newcastle, Dundee and Glencoe make up the bulk of the remaining Indian population. In the Gauteng area, the Indian community is largely concentrated around Lenasia outside Johannesburg and Laudium and other suburbs outside Pretoria. There are also smaller groups in towns in the Eastern Cape and other provinces. Settlement of Indian origin people in a particular area, as with other South African peoples, came about as a result of the Group Areas Act that forced racial division into particular designated areas.
5. According to the figures provided by the Department of Education and Culture, in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, the linguistic break-up of the Indian community is as follows: Tamil 51%, Hindi 30%, Gujarati 7%, Telugu 6%, Urdu 5% and others 1%.
6. The language issue is of more emotional and cultural significance than a practical one as 98% of the Indian community in South Africa considers English their home language. However, community organisations make some commendable efforts to teach Indian languages to children at school levels and to maintain university level language courses at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Indeed many local Indian origin people speak Afrikaans, having been taught it throughout their schooling and some because of business and other interactions with the local people. The preponderance of English over Indian vernaculars is also as a result of the state education received by Indian origin learners, which precluded languages other than English and Afrikaans.
IMMIGRATION LAWS AFFECTING THE DIASPORA
7. Although Indians came to South Africa in the 1860's, it was not until over a century later (in 1961), that they were granted the status of full citizens. While their status changed, they were subject to the same discrimination as the rest of the Black people of South Africa. Post-1994, they are treated like any other South African and have afforded most of the benefits reserved for previously disadvantaged people.
POLITICAL ROLE:
8. Traditionally, progressive South African Indian leaders led the fight against apartheid. Beginning with Mahatma Gandhi during his 21-year stay in South Africa, it was valiantly followed by Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Dr Monty Naicker and others. The Natal Indian Congress, which was founded by Gandhi, also successfully led the move to boycott the tricameral and racist elections in 1984 and together with the Transvaal Indian Congress, participated actively in the United Democratic Front and its struggle against the racist regime, during the years in which the ruling African National Congress was banned and in exile. Their contribution has always been acknowledged by leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and President Thabo Mbeki. The Natal Indian Congress played a significant role when the African National Congress (ANC) was banned in 1960, but was subsequently dissolved in the 1990s when the ANC was unbanned. However, the Natal Indian Congress and its leaders, George Sewpersad, Pravin Gordhan, Dr Kesavaloo Goonam and Ela Gandhi, amongst others, had served the struggle for the liberation of South Africa unflinchingly.
9. After the 1999 elections, of the 400 National Assembly MPs, 41 were of Indian origin. The Speaker was of Indian origin as were four Cabinet ministers and two deputy ministers. In the current Assembly, there are 25 Indian-origin MPs, one Cabinet Minister and three Deputy Ministers. Given that Indians represent less than 2.5% of the overall population in South Africa, people were chosen on the basis of their ability, their activism and their contributions rather than their ethnic origin, in keeping with the non-racial ethic of African National Congress rule.
10. In the province of KwaZulu-Natal where there is maximum concentration of South Africans of Indian origin, one Indian-origin Minister has been inducted into the 11-member Cabinet. In the 80-member Provincial Legislature there are six members of Indian origin, excluding the one Minister. For the first time in the province of Free State there is one member in the Provincial Legislature of Indian origin. Ironically, during apartheid rule people of Indian origin were not allowed to spend more than 24-hours in the province, let alone settling there or setting up businesses.
LINKS WITH INDIA:
11. In common with other large long-established overseas Indian communities, South African Indians have a deep emotional bond with their mother culture. Having been the unfortunate victims of the severing of ties with their motherland due to international sanctions against the apartheid state, they have warmly welcomed re-establishment of diplomatic, sporting, cultural and trade relations. Many community organisations want closer religious, cultural and educational ties. They are interested in visiting India to rediscover their roots and for tourism and trade. They are also eager to start interacting with other overseas Indian communities with whom their ties also suffered as a result of the apartheid rule.
12. The community participates actively in the celebration of National Day by the Indian missions in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Diwali is celebrated as a big public function in Durban as well as in Lenasia, Laudium and other areas where Indian communities reside. There are a large number of community organizations, which are working to propagate their cultural and linguistic traditions.
13. To sum up, the Indian origin community in South Africa is one of the largest such communities in the world, and one of the oldest, and has had an honourable and acknowledged role in the liberation struggle with strong emotional and cultural bonds with the country of their origin, and while they may have concerns about their future, like all minorities, are proud of being South Africans.
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