Page 28 - Diplomatists Nov

Foreword

he feature on Indian South Africans immigration policy restrictions, imposed by the
forms part of our larger feature on the apartheid regime, were scrapped. People from
TPeople of South Africa. It is a long term project to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, arrived in South
build a comprehensive overview of the rich diversity of Africa as new immigrants. However, there is a major cultural
peoples, traditions and culture that address the question, division between these new groups and Indian South Africans.
‘Who are South Africans?’ This year, 16 November 2020, is A key factor that helped forge a common South African
the 160th anniversary of the arrival of the Indian indentured “Indian” identity was the political struggles waged against
labourers and the birth of this community in South Africa. harsh discriminatory laws enacted against Indians and
This publication should be seen as a contribution to the major the other Black oppressed groups in the country. As a
project to build a comprehensive social and political history consequence, the Indian community established a number
of this African community. of political formations, the most prominent being the Natal
South Africans of Indian origin comprise a heterogeneous Indian Congress (NIC) established by Gandhi in 1894, and
community distinguished by different origins, languages, and the Transvaal and Cape Indian Congresses in the early part of

religious beliefs. The first Indians arrived during the Dutch the 20th century. Members of the Indian Congress, together
colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. A conservative calculation with socialist activists in the Communist Party of South Africa
based strictly on records shows over 16 300 slaves from the were instrumental, from the 1930s, in building cross-racial
Indian subcontinent having been brought to the Cape. In the alliances. The small Indian, Coloured and White progressive
decades 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. sectors joined with progressive African activists and together,
This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838. They they conducted a common non-racial struggle for Freedom
made up the majority of slaves that came from the Far East and Equality.
and were by the 1880s totally integrated into the Cape White The diverse Indian population in South Africa is
and Coloured communities. concentrated in Kwa-Zulu Natal’s largest city, Durban,
In the second half of the 19th Century, Indians came to which has the most substantial Indian population in sub-
South Africa in two categories, namely as indentured workers Saharan Africa. South Africa as a whole also has a substantial
in 1860 and later as ‘free’ or ‘passenger’ Indians. The former Indian population, with over 1 million people of Indian

came as a result of a triangular pact among three governments, descent. Therefore, Indian influences have contributed to the
which stated that the indentured Indians were to work for the multi-cultural diversity of South Africa. The local culinary
Natal colonial government on Natal’s sugar plantations. The landscape has been infused with a diverse array of Oriental
‘free’ Indians came to South Africa mainly as traders alert flavour - most notably in the Natal region. Popular dishes

to new opportunities abroad. These ‘free Indians’ came at include curry, and an intrinsic Durban dish called ‘bunny
their own expense from India, Mauritius, and other places. chow’, which is half a loaf of bread, hollowed out and fi lled
However, emigration was stopped in 1914. with curry.
Between November 1860 and 1911 (when the system of South African Indians retain a sense of cultural and social
indentured labour was stopped), nearly 152 184 indentured connection to India, and a concept of primarily local and
labourers from across India arrived in Natal. After serving secondary ancestral identity is prevalent among people of

their indentures, the first category of Indians were free to Indian descent.
remain in South Africa or to return to India. By 1910, nearly
26.85% of indentured men returned to India, but most chose I thank you.
to stay and thus constituted the forbearers of the majority of
present-day South African Indians. H.E Sibusiso Joel Ndebele
With 1994 and the advent of a democratic constitution, High Commissioner of South Africa to India

28 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 8 • Issue 9 • November 2020, Noida