India-South Africa India-South Africa 2019 | Page 40

SPECIAL REPORT
Role of Indian Diaspora
in South Africa
Saurabh Mishra*
S
outh Africa in India is primarily identifi ed
as the land of the ‘making of Mahatma’
and ‘Madiba’ (Nelson Mandela). Both of
them stood against injustice and had ideational
meeting points in their approach towards building a
multicultural nation. However, the story of Indians
in South Africa goes beyond the Mahatma-Madiba
bonhomie of ideas. The early Indians arrived
mostly as slaves with the Dutch colonists between
the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century.
However, they were not conscious, back at home,
of their identity as Indian; and gradually integrated
with the African society.
The wave of migration responsible for creating
signifi cant Indian diaspora in South Africa occurred
during the British colonial rule. The fi rst group of
342 ‘indentured’ Indians arrived in South Africa
in November 1860. They were bound under an
agreement facilitated by the Natal Government
to work for their white masters and were used
in plantations, mines or household chores. The
arrival and conditions of an indentured labourer
in South Africa were shaped by a tripartite
agreement among the Indian, Natal and the British
Government. There was another wave of Indians,
mostly of Gujarati Muslims, that arrived seeking
entrepreneurial and trade opportunities in South
Africa. They were termed as ‘passenger’ Indians
40 • India-South Africa • 2019
as they paid for their journey to South Africa.
There was some post-apartheid migration as well,
which focused to benefi t from the new economic
opportunities emerging in South Africa.
The indenture system by the British was a kind
of reinvention of slavery. The working conditions
and treatment of the ‘indentured labourers’ were
dismal and diffi cult. Labourers primarily came from
the Tamil, Telugu (Andhra) Hindi speaking regions
(United Province and Bihar) of India; and the port
of Madras and Calcutta served as the hubs for
their transport. By the end of the indenture system
in 1911, there were 149,791 Indians in South
Africa out of which 133,000 were concentrated
in KwaZulu-Natal province due to the restrictions
imposed on their movement by the apartheid
government. After the end of the indenture system
only about 27 percent of the Indians returned back
to India. Those who stayed played an important and
inspiring role in the development of South Africa
as a nation and society. According to the 2011
census, there were 1.28 million Indians constituting
about 2.48 percent of the total population of South
Africa. The number of Indians in the country is
now estimated to be about 1.5 million and the
majority of them are Hindus by religion. There
are a signifi cant number of Muslims and a small
number of Christian Indians as well. The city of