INDIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA A COMPLETE PROFILE
South Africa is at the southern tip of the African continent where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet at Cape Agulhas. It is the twenty fourth largest country in the world with an area of about one point two million square kilometres. It has six neighbours namely Namibia to the northwest, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the north, Mozambique and Eswatini to the east and it completely surrounds the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. It has three capitals. Pretoria is administrative, Cape Town is legislative and Bloemfontein is judicial. Johannesburg is the largest city and the economic heart. For Indians the most important city is Durban on the east coast of KwaZulu Natal province. Durban is often called the largest Indian city outside India. The concentration of Indians around Durban is so high that suburbs like Chatsworth, Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat and Isipingo are ninety percent Indian.
CLIMATE
South Africa climate is as diverse as India but generally drier and sunnier. Durban and KwaZulu Natal coast where sixty percent Indians live is subtropical, humid, very similar to Chennai or Mumbai. Summer is November to February with temperature twenty eight to thirty three degrees with heavy rain. Winter is mild twenty to twenty five degrees. Sugarcane grows here which is why the British brought Indians here because climate is identical to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for cane. Gauteng Highveld where Johannesburg and Pretoria lie and where twenty seven percent Indians live is temperate, high altitude fifteen hundred metres, like Bengaluru. Pleasant summers twenty six degrees, cold dry winters with morning frost four to fifteen degrees. Western Cape where Cape Town lies is Mediterranean with dry hot summers and wet cold winters. Interior Karoo is semi desert. South Africa has abundant sunshine over two thousand five hundred hours a year.
WHEN DID INDIANS ARRIVE
There were two distinct waves.
Wave one was indentured labour from eighteen sixty to nineteen eleven. After slavery was abolished in British Empire in eighteen thirty four, sugar planters in Natal Colony needed cheap labour. On sixteenth November eighteen sixty, the sailing ship Truro arrived in Durban harbour from Madras with three hundred forty two Indians. Then SS Belvedere from Calcutta. Over fifty one years, one hundred fifty two thousand one hundred eighty four indentured Indians arrived in three hundred eighty four ships. Sixty percent came from Madras Presidency, Tamil and Telugu speaking villages, twenty five percent from Bihar, United Provinces, Bengal, Bhojpuri and Awadhi speaking, fifteen percent from Bombay and Gujarat. They signed five year contract, paid ten shillings a month, lived in barracks, were called Coolies. About twenty five percent went back to India, but seventy five percent stayed, took small plot of land in Inanda, Clairwood, or became market gardeners and hawkers. Indenture was stopped in nineteen eleven due to Gandhi agitation.
Wave two was Passenger Indians from eighteen seventies onwards. These were free Indians, not indentured labourers. First was Abubaker Amod Jhaveri, a Memon trader from Porbandar in eighteen seventy five, who followed his indentured workers to sell them halal food and clothes. Then came Gujarati Hindu Bhatias, Patels, and Uttar Pradesh Sunni Bohras. They paid their own passenger fare, hence called Passenger Indians. They were literate, had capital. They opened shops on Grey Street now called Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street in Durban. After nineteen ninety four, third wave arrived, thirty thousand plus new Indian professionals, doctors, information technology specialists, professors, direct from India on work visas. They are called India Indians versus South African Indians.
ROUTES
Indenture route was Kolkata or Madras across the Indian Ocean via Mauritius to Durban. Voyage took forty five to sixty days, mortality two to three percent. Ships were Truro, Belvedere, Umtata, Congella and others. Passenger route was Porbandar or Bombay to Aden to Zanzibar to Durban by steamer. Traders would bring whole joint families, unlike indenture which was single male majority.
POPULATION BREAKUP OF SOUTH AFRICA
As per Census twenty twenty two and Stats SA mid year estimate twenty twenty four
Total population of South Africa sixty three point one million
Breakup by race group
Black African fifty one point five million which is eighty one point four five percent
Coloured mixed race five point one million which is eight point one five percent
White four point six million which is seven point three zero percent
Indian or Asian one point six nine million which is two point seven four percent
Other zero point three nine percent
So out of every one hundred South Africans, about eighty one are Black African, eight are Coloured, seven are White and three are Indian.
TOTAL INDIAN POPULATION BREAKUP
Total Indian or Asian population as per twenty twenty two Census one million six hundred ninety seven thousand five hundred six
Provincial breakup of Indians
KwaZulu Natal one million fifty two thousand three hundred which is sixty two percent of all Indians
Gauteng four hundred twenty four thousand which is twenty five percent
Western Cape one hundred eighteen thousand which is seven percent
Eastern Cape, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo combined about one hundred three thousand which is six percent
City wise Concentration
Durban metro about seven hundred thousand Indians which is about thirty percent of Durban
Johannesburg and Lenasia about three hundred fifty thousand
Cape Town and Rylands about eighty thousand
Pietermaritzburg, Verulam, Tongaat, Phoenix, Chatsworth each twenty thousand to two hundred thousand
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF INDIANS
Total Indians one million six hundred ninety seven thousand five hundred six
Hindu forty eight percent which is about eight hundred fourteen thousand
Muslim twenty two percent which is about three hundred seventy three thousand
Christian fifteen percent which is about two hundred fifty four thousand
Other and non religious fifteen percent which is about two hundred fifty six thousand
Details within each religion
Hindu breakup
Tamil Hindu about fifty five percent of Hindus
Hindi speaking North Indian Sanatan Dharma about thirty percent of Hindus
Gujarati Hindu Swaminarayan and Sanatan about ten percent
Telugu and other about five percent
Muslim breakup
Memon Sunni about forty percent of Muslims
Surti Sunni about thirty five percent of Muslims
North Indian Urdu speaking Sunni about fifteen percent
Bohra, Shia and other about ten percent
Christian breakup
Catholic about fifty percent of Indian Christians
Pentecostal and Charismatic about thirty percent
Anglican, Methodist and other about twenty percent
Other religions
Sikh about thirteen thousand
Parsi Zoroastrian about two thousand
Jain about one thousand five hundred
Buddhist and Bahai small numbers
So out of every one hundred Indians in South Africa, forty eight are Hindu, twenty two are Muslim, fifteen are Christian and fifteen are other.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
About fifty percent of Indians are Hindu, split into Tamil largest with Mariamman temples, North Indian Sanatan Dharma temples with Ramayana, Telugu, Gujarati Swaminarayan. Temples often have Brahmin priests. Sanatan Dharma Sabha controls many temples. About twenty two percent are Muslim, mostly Gujarati Memon and Surti Sunni, plus some North Indian Pathans. Very affluent, control textile trade. Mosques on Grey Street are one hundred forty years old. About fifteen percent are Christian, many indentured converted during apartheid to get education in missionary schools. Others include Sikh, Parsi, Jain small. During apartheid, when government banned Indian political activity, temples and mosques became centres for political organising.
FESTIVALS
Diwali is the biggest public festival in Durban. The Durban Diwali Festival at the Old Fort and along the Golden Mile attracts over two hundred thousand people of all races. Homes in Chatsworth and Phoenix light oil lamps, share mithai and fireworks.
Eid is central for the Muslim Indian community. There are two major Eids. Eid ul Fitr after Ramadan is the festival of breaking fast. It is celebrated after thirty days of fasting. On this day the Jumuah Masjid in Durban, built in eighteen eighty one, holds special prayers with over six thousand people. Families wear new clothes, give Zakat to poor and cook biryani, haleem and seviyan. Eid ul Adha is the festival of sacrifice in memory of Prophet Ibrahim. The ritual of Qurbani is done and meat is distributed to poor and neighbours of all religions.
Holi or Phag is celebrated as the festival of colours especially by North Indians from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh heritage. In Durban and Johannesburg, temples like the Sri Radha Gopinath Temple organise Holi with dry colour, water and bhajans. It falls during South Africa autumn in March but youth have revived it.
Maha Shivratri is the great night of Shiva and is very important for Tamil and Hindi communities. Devotees fast all day and stay awake all night chanting Om Namah Shivaya. The main centre is the Clairwood Shree Siva Soobramoniar Temple in Durban and the Melrose Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Johannesburg. People carry milk, water and bilva leaves to pour on the lingam.
Ram Navmi is the birth of Lord Rama and is perhaps the most emotional festival for North Indian Sanatan Dharma families because the Ramayana is their bible. For nine days, Ramayana recitals happen in Hindi and in English in homes and temples. On Ram Navmi day, temples in Durban North, Pietermaritzburg and Lenasia stage flag hoisting and distribute panakam and sweet rice. The Ramayana Centre in Chatsworth was built to preserve this tradition.
Other major festivals include Pongal, Kavadi or Thaipusam, Navratri and Garba, and Krishna Janmashtami.
ARYA SAMAJ
Arya Samaj was founded in South Africa in nineteen zero eight in Durban by Bhawani Dayal Sannyasi who had come from India. He started the first Arya Samaj in Durban to reform Hinduism among Hindi speaking North Indians. The core teachings are belief in one formless God, rejection of idol worship, rejection of caste by birth, support for widow remarriage, support for Vedic education and Hindi language, and performance of hawan fire prayer instead of idol puja. In South Africa it remained a minority, about ten to fifteen percent of North Indian Hindus. Still Arya Samaj contribution is significant. They run Arya Samaj schools in Durban and Johannesburg like Arya Samaj School in Chatsworth. They run Hindi classes, they conduct mass hawan, they conduct funerals without Brahmin priest, they promote Vedic marriages where bride and groom chant mantras themselves. They also run the Veda Niketan and Dayanand Home for orphans.
RAM LEELA
Ram Leela is very much alive in South Africa. Ram Leela was brought by Bihari and Uttar Pradesh indentured labourers who knew the Tulsidas Ramcharitmanas by heart. There are two forms. First is Ramayana Satsang which is non stop reading. For nine days before Ram Navmi and Dussehra, groups read the entire Ramcharitmanas in temples. Second is Natak Ram Leela which is drama with costumes. This is performed in Durban, Chatsworth, Verulam, Phoenix, Lenasia and Cape Town. The biggest Ram Leela is in Durban. Shree Ramayana Sabha of South Africa organises Ram Leela every year at the Chatsworth Stadium and at the Durban Exhibition Centre during Navratri and Dussehra. In Verulam Ram Leela is performed on open ground for ten nights ending with Ravan Dahan burning of effigy of Ravana. This attracts over ten thousand people. Today the Ramayana Centre in Chatsworth founded by Pandit Sahadeo Maharaj is the world famous centre for Ram Leela study.
SIKHS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Sikhs in South Africa are a very small and very new community of about thirteen thousand people which is less than one percent of the Indian community. Unlike Tamil and Gujarati Indians who came in eighteen sixty as indentured labour and traders, Sikhs were not present during apartheid because immigration from India was banned from nineteen forty eight to nineteen ninety four. The community comprises exclusively Indian expatriates who arrived after nineteen ninety four. The first full fledged Gurdwara was built only in two thousand fifteen in Sandton Johannesburg after an eight year legal battle with white neighbours who objected to its domes. It is two thousand five hundred square metres and was opened by Minister Maite Mashabane Nkoane as a symbol that God is for rich and poor. There are now Gurdwaras in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. They hold Sunday divan, Punjabi classes, Vaisakhi nagar kirtan and daily langar open to all races. Many local South Africans come to do seva. Sikhs are known for enterprise and work mainly in transport, logistics, hardware and hotels and are respected for community service like blanket and food distribution.
CULTURAL CONTINUITY
Continuity is strong. Joint family system survives in KwaZulu Natal business families, arranged marriages still sixty percent in Gujarati community but love marriages are rising, vegetarianism is high with Durban having largest number of vegetarian restaurants in Africa. Bollywood, Indian Premier League cricket and Zee Television has a strong are maintaining links . Cricket hero Hashim Amla fasting in Ramadan was national pride. Cuisine includes bunny chow, hollowed bread filled with curry, invented by Indians to carry lunch to the fields and now national South African dish. Samosa, biryani, roti are mainstream South African foods.
TOURISM
Two way tourism exists. Indians visiting South Africa are one hundred thousand plus annually from India. They come for Gandhi Trail which includes Pietermaritzburg Station where Gandhi was thrown off in eighteen ninety three, Phoenix Settlement in Inanda which is Gandhi ashram, Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg, Constitution Hill. They also come for Indian markets like Victoria Street Market in Durban and Oriental Plaza in Johannesburg, plus Kruger and Cape Town and Garden Route. South Africans visiting India include many South African Indians who go for roots, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar ancestral villages, Char Dham pilgrimage.
GANDHI VISIT
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, twenty four year old barrister from Porbandar, arrived in Durban in May eighteen ninety three to work for Dada Abdulla, a Gujarati trader. Seventh June eighteen ninety three in first class compartment from Durban to Pretoria, he was thrown off at Pietermaritzburg for being coloured in white compartment. He shivered whole night in waiting room. He later wrote my active non violence began that night. He stayed till nineteen fourteen. In South Africa he founded Natal Indian Congress in eighteen ninety four, first Indian political party outside India, now one hundred thirty years old. He started newspaper Indian Opinion in nineteen zero three in four languages. He founded Phoenix Settlement near Durban in nineteen zero four, experimental ashram where he first practiced simple living, bread labour. He founded Tolstoy Farm in nineteen ten near Johannesburg, satyagraha training camp. He led first Satyagraha in nineteen zero six against Asiatic Registration Act called Black Act requiring fingerprinting of Indians, burned passes, went to jail four times. He led nineteen thirteen march of two thousand Indian women against marriage law, his first women led march. He was jailed in Old Fort Prison, Johannesburg. South Africa was his laboratory. He left in January nineteen fifteen for India as Mahatma.
MANDELA AND INDIANS
Nelson Mandela relationship with Indians was brotherhood forged in prison. During apartheid from nineteen forty eight to nineteen ninety four, Indians were classified as Asian, could not vote, could not own land in white areas, could not marry whites, forced relocation under Group Areas Act, Lenasia near Johannesburg and Chatsworth near Durban were Indian ghettos created by law. Indians joined African National Congress early. Key figures include Dr Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker who led nineteen forty six Passive Resistance Campaign, same Gandhian satyagraha. Ahmed Kathrada, Gujarati born, jailed with Mandela for twenty six years in Robben Island after Rivonia Trial in nineteen sixty four. Mandela closest confidant. Fatima Meer, Tamil Indian activist, banned person. Billy Nair, Pravin Gordhan, trade unionists. Mandela after release in nineteen ninety first went to Indian areas to thank. He said Indians, Coloureds and Africans were all oppressed, our struggle is one. Post nineteen ninety four democracy, Indians flourished, Pravin Gordhan became Finance Minister twice, Ebrahim Patel Minister of Trade, Naledi Pandor of Indian Muslim father Foreign Minister.
CONTRIBUTION OF INDIANS
Indians built Natal sugar industry which is still sixty percent of South Africa sugar. They built railways Durban to Johannesburg. Created retail network, Grey Street Durban was one hundred percent Indian shops. Today Durban small business is seventy percent Indian owned. Agriculture includes market gardening, Indians introduced mango, coriander, brinjal, chilli to South Africa. Clairwood and Verulam were vegetable baskets. Education wise during apartheid when government refused to build Indian schools, Indians built own, Mahatma Gandhi schools, Sastri College first Indian college. Literacy among Indians ninety eight percent, highest of all groups. Healthcare wise built clinics, led anti tuberculosis movement. Struggle wise sacrificed for democracy.
NOTABLE INDIANS
Ahmed Kathrada, Rivonia Trialist, Yusuf Dadoo, Fatima Meer author, Pravin Gordhan nineteen forty nine to twenty twenty four Finance Minister who stopped state capture, Ebrahim Patel Minister, Navi Pillay United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Hashim Amla first Indian to captain South Africa with fifty five centuries, Keshav Maharaj spinner South Africa cricket, Ravi Naidoo founder of Design Indaba.
INDIANS IN TRADE AND COMMERCE
Trade is where Indians dominate disproportionately. Gujarati Passenger Indians were called Arab traders by whites and hated for competition. They controlled eighty percent of retail in Natal by nineteen ten, leading to anti Indian laws. Today Grey Street in Durban, Oriental Plaza in Johannesburg, Fordsburg and Lenasia are wholesale hubs for textiles, spice, jewellery, hardware and electronics. Gujarati families like Jhaveri and Moosa own listed companies. New professionals run information technology firms, private hospitals and law firms. Shops like Lala Store menswear with lotus logo are classic Passenger Indian business, suits and formal wear for weddings. The lotus is used because it stands for Lakshmi and prosperity. South African Indians were brought as labour but became builders of nation.
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