2010-11-16: 150th Anniversary of the arrival of Indians in South Africa
THE City of Johannesburg has a proud and rewarding association with South Africans of Indian descent for more than 120 years. On 16 November we celebrate the first arrival of Indian immigrants to South Africa, exactly 150 years ago and the immense contribution they have made to our society for a Century and a half.
Through the decades, the Indian community has provided leadership and innovation in the areas of politics and governance, commerce and industry, education and the sciences, arts, culture and sport. Their contribution has enriched the cultural diversity of our inclusive city.
The first group of 342 Indian immigrants arrived in Durban on board the SS Truro on 16 November 1860. For the next 50 years a total of 152 184 indentured labourers were brought to work on the sugar cane plantations of Natal. They were later joined by thousands of "passenger Indians" – immigrants who were not bound to indenture.
Johannesburg was formally established as a town in 1886 following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand. Members of the Indian community have been resident in our city since its inception and have played a major role in the growth and development of Johannesburg.
Together with the majority of South Africans Indians were condemned to second class citizenship by successive colonial and apartheid governments. The labour contract of "indenture" was itself highly restrictive, which subjected the labourers to cruelty and abuse. As the labourers completed their period of indenture and elected not to return to India, they were subjected to a range of discriminatory laws that sought to encourage their repatriation, prevented their involvement in certain forms of economic activity, and prohibited their presence in certain areas.
When the young lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came to South Africa in 1893, he was stirred to resist the discriminatory laws that prevailed at the time. Indeed, it was in South Africa that he pioneered the idea of Satyagraha, which is a form of non-violent resistance against oppression.
The Empire Theatre in Ferreira Street – between Fox and Commissioner – is closely associated with this eventful period in our City's history and a life size statue erected at Gandhi Square commemorates Johannesburg's proud connections with the founding father of the Indian Republic.
The passive resistance campaigns led by Gandhi inspired Dr Yusuf Dadoo and Dr Monty Naicker to launch the Passive Resistance Campaign against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act in 1946. This was the precursor to sustained involvement by the Indian community in the struggle for freedom and equal rights for all South Africans including the civil resistance campaigns of the 1950s, the formation of Umkhonto weSizwe in 1961, and the internal struggles led by the United Democratic Front in the 1980s.
Many leaders of the South African struggle, who were of Indian origin, were subject to the harsh repression of the apartheid state. Yusuf Dadoo, along with Oliver Tambo, was sent into exile after the Sharpeville massacre of 1960; Ahmed Kathrada and Billy Nair, among many others, were charged for treason in 1956; Kathrada, Nair, and Laloo Isu Chiba were sentenced to lengthy terms in prison for their involvement in the armed struggle; and many were detained, harassed or banned. Indeed, many were martyred such as Babla Saloojee, Lenny Naidoo, Ahmed Timol, Yusuf Akhalwaya and Prakash Napier.
In spite of the restrictions placed on the community by the apartheid state, it has made a formidable economic contribution to South Africa. It has consistently emphasised the importance of education as a means for individual and community progress. Consequently, Indians have made enriched our society in the fields of law, health, business and the sciences.
The religious and cultural diversity within the Indian community has deepened the multi-cultural tapestry of South African as a whole. As a nation, we are deeply appreciative of the positive impact of the mosques, temples and churches to our built environment; and the importance of Indian languages, dress and food to a diverse daily experience for all South Africans.
We also salute Indian sportsmen and women, who like the golfer Papwa Sewgoolam, faced substantial discrimination, but were among the pioneers of non-racial sport in South Africa. Quite fittingly, in the same month in which we celebrate the contribution of the Indian community, Protea cricket player, Hashim Amla, rose to the Number 1 position on the world's batting ranking.
I salute this community for their profound contribution to our country and city. I know that they see themselves as committed and patriotic South Africans, who are proud of their 150 year contribution, and are confident of their future in this country.
Issued on behalf of:
Councillor Amos Masondo
Executive Mayor
City of Johannesburg
Issued by:
Nthatisi Modingoane
Deputy Director: Communications
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Tel: (011) 407 7354
Fax: 403 3494
Cell: 082 467 9228
E-mail: nthatisem@joburg.org.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
