The legacy of Jaisingh Surujbullee Singh: education and community impact

In tribute to the sterling work of chairman of the 1860 Indentured Labourers Foundation Verulam, Jaisingh Singh, who passed away on Friday. In the year of the first Indentured workers arriving to South Africa, 165 years ago, we must take time to acknowledge the work of this community stalwart in preserving and constantly propagating the history of indenture in South Africa. Below is an interview with Singh that was published in the POST last October.

FROM crossing a river dressed in only a school shirt, shorts and walking barefoot daily to school -  be it sunshine or rain, the importance of education was instilled in Jaisingh Surujbullee “JS” Singh from an early age. 

Singh, 94, of Verulam, is one of the eight trailblazers who shared his story in Kogielam Archary's book, Reflective Memories - Voices of Indentured Labourer Descendants: South Africans born between 1924 and 1944 - Volume One. 

In the book, each person reflects on their lives and that of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, who either came from India or were colonial-born. They share their personal testimonies and reflective memories from the last seven decades or more. 

Singh, a retired principal, said he was born in the home which was built by his late paternal grandparents in Ireland Street on September 15 in 1930.

He said his grandfather, Mahesh Singh Jawahir Singh, who was indentured, arrived in South Africa in 1895. However, the history of his grandmother, Takurine, was not available. 

Singh said his late father, Surujbulle Mahas Singh, had worked on his grandparents farm - on which they grew vegetables and herded cattle, before he would go on to become a teacher and later a principal. 

“My father had told me, he did not go to school, he would help my grandmother with all the farming activities. My grandfather died when my father was about eight-years-old, so he took on a lot of the responsibilities at home. However, there were a lot of Muslim families living in the Verulam CBD and they were looking for someone to teach English to their daughters.

“My father had a neighbour, Mrs Joshua, who started teaching the girls from her home. She wasn’t a qualified teacher but was very smart. He said one day while he was working on their farm, she called me and asked him - while twisting his ear, ‘Surujbullee, do you want to graze cows all your life?’. She said ‘from tomorrow morning, you will come and sit at the back of my class, and listen as I teach the girls’. 

“The next morning, my father went to her home and sat in on the lesson. He didn’t leave until he reached a point where he could read and write in English. His life changed from then. He started attending school and thereafter went on to become a qualified teacher and later retired as a principal,” he said.

Singh, who was the second born of five children, said he started attending school at age seven. 

“Education was very important to indentured labourers and descendants as they saw it as a stepping stone to a better life in this country. I remember, I would wake up early and get ready for school. However, I would wear my school shirt and short pants only. I didn’t have any shoes or long pants. 

“Every morning, My father and I would walk to school  - which meant crossing over a river which was always flowing, not like how it is often dry nowadays. It also didn’t matter if it was raining or blistering hot, I could not miss a day of school. I was also born asthmatic, but it didn’t matter,” he said. 

Singh said after completing his Grade 8(standard six) at Umdloti Government Aided Indian School, he had to attend secondary school. 

“Everyone was very excited at home and eager for me to start secondary school. However, I kept thinking how I am going to go to school barefoot and with short pants. 

“Thankfully, a rich uncle, who owned a business, came to the rescue. He provided me with my first long pants, shoes and a tie. An elder cousin, who had completed his studies, gave me his blazer. I was ready for my first day at Sastri College,” he said. 

Singh said travelling to school was both nerve-wrecking and exciting. 

“I had to travel by train - this was very scary as I didn’t even know how to buy a ticket. But thankfully, there were other boys that also attended the school so they showed me. We would all walk from the station to school everyday. 

“Being at school was also a new experience, as I was learning new things I never heard of before, such as the subject Latin and maths. I was confused but the boys in the higher standards used to help me and others on the train ride. I am glad that I learnt Latin, because he taught me a lot about English grammar,” he said. 

Singh said after completing his matric in 1949, his father got him a locum tenens position at a school. 

“While other boys were able to go on train to be teachers, my father couldn't afford to pay for my further studies. We were five siblings, and when my father’s sister died during childbirth, her husband dropped off their five children at our house. My father didn’t earn much as a teacher, and had many mouths to feed. 

“I started my first locum tenens position at Cottonlands Government Aided Indian School, however, I was not a qualified teacher and could provide them with just the information I had learnt. But, I continued to work in locum positions at various schools and finally acquired the required number of days which would allow me to write the national teachers senior certificate examination. I finally became a qualified teacher. 

“However, when the National Party came into power, they had their own rules, one of which was that you have to know Afrikaans in order to get a promotion. Fortunately, there were part-time classes held on weekends and during holidays at the Springfield College of Education. At the end of it, I wrote an examination for my Primary Education Diploma, which included Afrikaans. I was also now able to be promoted,” he said. 

Singh said he continued to study further and went to graduate with his bachelor of art and later bachelor of education degrees at the then University of Durban-Westville. 

He said, while he enjoyed teaching, there were various challenges. 

“On a personal level, I recall teaching at a school on the south coast. I was away from home and had to now live in the barracks with the other workers. We were six teachers crammed into one small room. We also had to wake up very early and stand in a queue to have a bath as there were very few ablution facilities. 

“There were also challenges when teaching - as we were not provided with the necessary material for example, to teach science. We had to use other items, sometimes from our own homes as an alternative. However, when I look back, I think about how far we have come and how we should appreciate what we have now,” he said. 

Singh said during this time, he married Savithree Devi, who is now late. 

They had three sons, Naresh Kumar, a retired school principal; Bimal, a retired attorney; and Ujen, a quality and certification manager living in Australia. 

Singh said over the years, he climbed the ladder, from becoming the head of department to deputy principal and later principal at various schools. 

He retired as principal from Hopeville Primary School in 1991. 

The grandfather of five, said apart from his involvement in school, he played an active role in serving his community, together with his father.

“I was about 20-years-old at the time and on one occasion a health film by the Friends of the Sick Association(FOSA) on Tuberculosis(TB) was advertised. I decided to go watch it at the former Verulam Town Hall because I was aware that the disease was rampant in the general South African community and was claiming many lives. There was also a social stigma attached to the disease. I was very impressed with the presentation that outlined the measures that FOSA was taking to prevent this deadly disease. 

“I made a decision to establish a care committee in Verulam.  I visited the FOSA office on Commercial Road in Durban. I was quite nervous, but was thrilled when I was given the go ahead. A committee was thereafter formed and we began providing assistance in the community. Over the years, I  served on the committee as an ordinary member, secretary and chairperson. My father also served on the committee for 35 years as the treasurer,” he said. 

Among other organisations that Singh has been involved in include the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society Verulam Regional Committee, Verulam Retired Teachers Society, and Verulam Ratepayers and Civic Association. 

Singh is also a founding member and the president since 2008 of the 1860 Indentured Labourers Foundation Verulam (1860 ILFV).

“The aim of the foundation is to ensure that we capture the past and ensure that records remain for the future generations. Our forebears played a very important role in our history. It is because of what they endured and the sacrifices they made, that we are the people that we are today. They laid the foundation for the future generation and we must remember and preserve this history. 

“We have since proudly captured some of the history in our own books and commemorated the arrival of our forebears with a monument comprising a plaque and murals, which was erected at the entrance to Verulam last year, ” he said. 

Singh added that nowadays he enjoys spending his time reading books, especially on indentured history by both local and international history. 

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