165 years of legacy: Indian community reflects on indentured labour heritage

AS SOUTH Africa commemorates the 165th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured Indians in 1860, community leaders reflect on their ancestors' legacy of resilience, educational values, and contributions to the nation's economy and freedom struggle.

From sugar cane fields to positions of leadership, their journey represents a remarkable story of perseverance and achievement despite historical challenges

Ravi Pillay, a former MEC in KwaZulu-Natal, said the indentured Indians were “quite visionary and exemplary”. 

“Their emphasis on values - largely emanating from their religious and cultural belief system - is very important. They demonstrated by action and sacrifice the importance of education and a proper work ethic.  They were brave enough to engage in struggle against injustice and for political and economic rights. Of course like all communities we had our fair share of scoundrels too.”

He said the Dadoo-Xuma-Naicker Pact of 1947 positioned the Indian community on the right side of history.

“Their contributions to the freedom struggle, the Codesa negotiations, and the building of a democratic constitutional state have been remarkable. We also applaud the many members of the community who have achieved phenomenal success in almost every sphere of endeavour, from commercial to medical, legal, educational, information technology, academia, telecommunications and increasingly artificial intelligence,” he said. 

“However, serious challenges remain and will continue for some time to come. While the literacy rate in the community has long reached 100%, the general unemployment rate is approximately 32%. In the Indian community it is approximately 12%. The overwhelming majority remains working class and a significant percentage remain poor and reliant on social grants,” he added.

“The July 2021 unrest in particular has given us many lessons. While we have laid strong foundations post 1994, we have not yet completed enduring walls and roof for a sustainable, flourishing democratic society. There is still much work to be done and threats to be defused. The future progress of the community is dependent on the progress of all South Africans - in understanding and a collective pursuit of the national interest,” Pillay said. 

Prince Ishwar Ramlutchman Mabheka Zulu, president of the Sivananda World Peace Foundation, said the collective community of generations of Indians owed a huge debt of gratitude to their forebears. 

“They bravely took the opportunity to be shipped to this south eastern tip of Africa, despite the promises of a better life, and faced the untold hardships of toiling in the sugar cane cane plantations from dawn to dusk. Their combined dint of hard work contributed significantly to boosting the economy of a sagging sugar economy in the then Natal Colony. 

“Between the 1860s until the indenture of our forebears had laid a formidable foundation for our generation of  descendants to continue to enjoy a fairly good life and better prospects across the board in the past decades of the history of indentured labour,” he said.

Today, Indians ranked among the most highly educated and learned communities in South Africa, he added.

“This is because our forebears had a vision to invest in educating their children and successive generations of Indians had progressively benefited from their vision to build government aided schools so that their children and grandchildren did not have to have been enslaved to work on the plantations. Each passing decade we celebrate our success story from the cane cutting fields to some of the highest echelons of our broader non-racial society, from enterprising businesses to tertiary education and political governance,” he said. 

Jairam Reddy, chairperson of the 1860 Heritage Centre’s History Society, said: “The indentured Indian labourers played a critical role in establishing the sugar industry which to this day contributes significantly to the GDP of the province. 

“In addition, for many years market gardeners supplied the population of the province with a regular supply of fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers, among other things, which contributed to the economic development of the province.

“These were also the foundations from which the Indian community subsequently prospered in the province,  in education as teachers, in professions such as  law and medicine, as well as merchants and industrialists. These were achievements despite continuing discrimination of the Indian community by colonial governments in Natal,” he said. 

Reddy said the descendants not only played a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the province, but “punched above their weight” in the anti-apartheid struggle. 

“Many were imprisoned, others served with banning orders, some went into exile and others lost their lives. It was not surprising that a number of Indians have held ministerial and senior positions in the government, universities and other bodies, as well as others have prospered in business and industry.”

Seelan Arhary, chairperson of the Mount Edgecombe Shree Mariammen Temple Society, said: “Our forebears were lured to this country and given contracts that were not even written or even worth the paper. It was called indenture.

“However, they came with various skills that led to the progress we have seen in this province and then other parts of the country. So indeed, they played a vital and critical role in setting a platform for us. They built that platform with blood, sweat, tears, and sheer tenacity. We are beneficiaries of their hard work and their perseverance. We are South Africans, with a proud tradition of Indian heritage. 
We have helped shape and build this country, and we continue to do so,” he said. 

Ela Gandhi, a peace activist and former parliamentarian, said on the celebration of the arrival of the Indian indentured workers there are many things that we should celebrate and learn from. 

“The two strongest and most important legacies were their passion for education and their passion for dignity and freedom - for both of which they made many sacrifices. They struggled and sacrificed so much so that their children could receive quality education. There are so many success stories of those who were able to go forward and build their own legacies through the attainment of education at the highest levels.”

THE POST