“THE IMPACT OF INDIANS ON THE CULTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA SINCE 1860”
ADDRESS BY
PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP
PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
TRADITIONAL PRIME MINISER TO THE ZULU MONARCH AND NATION
AND PATRON OF THE SIVANANDA WORLD PEACE
AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
Consulate General of Indian, Durban: 8 December 2018
Dr Chaitanya Prakash Yogi, Director of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre; Mr Pradeep Gupta, Acting Consul General of India in Durban; Mr Ishwar Ramlutchman, Executive Vice President of the Global Organisation for People of Indian Origin; Members of the Board of Directors of the 1860 Heritage Centre; honoured guests and friends.
On 16 November 1860, the Truro docked at the Port of Natal bringing the first Indian indentured labourers to South African soil. In the 158 years since that day, our country has been enriched by the remarkable contribution of a remarkable people.
This commemoration is not an Indian celebration. It is a South African celebration. I am honoured to have been asked to speak.
The topic I have been given is fairly complex, however. How does one unpack the impact of Indians on the culture of South Africa?
The contribution of Indians cannot be limited to a cultural impact, in the same way that it cannot be limited to our long liberation struggle, or to the social transformation of our nation; for it extends into every field of human endeavour. Indians in South Africa have benefitted the diverse fields of medicine, law, politics, religion, music, art, education, business and industry.
This country would not be what it is without the major contribution of Indians. And KwaZulu Natal, certainly, would be vastly poorer. I cannot imagine this Province without the largest population of Indian people, outside of India. After all Indians arrive here before the Zulu Kingdom was dismantled by conquest.
But if we must isolate culture as an area of study, we must start from the unfortunate reality that for some 130 years, Indians, coloureds, blacks and whites were forcibly separated into cultural and linguistic silos. Cultural exchange was very rare indeed.
Nevertheless, even under the strictest laws of apartheid, some of us managed cultural exchange. By virtue of our friendships across the racial divide, we learnt about each other’s culture. I am a living testimony to this truth.
Long before democracy, when we still laboured under the Improper Interference Act that sought to prohibit political collaboration between races, those of us with a passion for freedom inevitably converged.
When I was rusticated from Fort Hare for my political activities, I continued my studies in the non-European section at the University of Natal. There I met Fatima Meer, who was my classmate under Professor Kenneth Kirkwood. Through her I met Ismail Meer, the attorney who would become her husband. We attended many of the gatherings in Nicol Square, listening to leaders like Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Dr Monty Naicker, Ishmael Meer himself and Mr Debbie Singh and other leaders of the ANC; Mr Walter Sisulu and Dr Yusuf Dadoo and other leaders of the Natal Indian Congress. The Natal Indian Congress was working closely with the ANC.
When I was installed, a few years later, as Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan, my wife and I would often need to stay over in Durban. Hotels were of course strictly Whites Only. It was again Indians such as the Poovalingan family, and the Mayat family who opened their homes to us.
We ate at their dining room tables, and slept in their spare beds. We discussed politics in their living rooms and shared ideas in the kitchen around cups of tea. We knew their children by name, and celebrated religious festivals alongside them.
They didn’t try to hide their culture and become more African in our presence. Neither did we feel the need to act less African. They were Indian and we were black, and that was okay. The beauty of it was that we were the same. We wanted the same future for the country we shared. Built on such strong foundations, those friendships lasted a lifetime. We were all under the racist umbrella of non-Europeans. We were all Black. Although I failed to understand why Indians were forbidden from swimming in certain parts of the Indian Ocean.
I still admire those who build bridges across cultures; people like Ishwar Ramlutchman, whose complete identification with the Zulu people is not only historic, but quite unique, to the extent that the Zulu King has adopted Mr Ramlutchman as his “son”.
A people’s culture is more than the kind of foods they eat, or their style of dance and music. It develops out of their history, becoming an intrinsic part of their identity. So it can well be said that the teachings of the Mahatma Gandhi, of Satyagraha and non-violent resistance to oppression, are part of the cultural identity of India.
Gandhi bequeathed a legacy on South Africa that many of us so admired that we adopted its principles as our own. In this time of celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi, it is good to remember how his ideals shaped the liberation struggle.
I recall how enamoured we were as young black activists with the Mahatma. His assassination on 30 January 1948 came as a shock to us all. It was the very year I entered Fort Hare University, and the deeper I went as a student into political activism, the more I admired his teachings.
The culture of passive resistance resonated with me, for my uncle, Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, had laid this principle at the foundation of the South African National Native Congress in 1912. To me, it was a fixed point of departure for our struggle and I held fast to that even when my colleagues in the ANC abandoned it in favour of an armed struggle. I could not support violence, even political violence, and that drove a wedge between me and the ANC, which was my movement from youth when I did errands for my uncle Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, the Founder of the ANC.
Gandhi was brought to South Africa by the indentured Indian labourers, to handle some cases as their lawyer. Our countries shared a similar background, for both India and South Africa were colonies of Britain. This shared oppression created some similarities in our character; a passion for freedom and an understanding that we would have to create our own path.
What constantly amazes me about the Indian community in South Africa is how they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. From toiling in poverty in the sugar cane fields, Indian South Africans now occupy some of the most influential positions in our society. It didn’t happen by chance. Nor was it a natural outcome. It took hard work, consistency, ingenuity, passion and patriotism.
Yes, patriotism. The love of country is not the sole domain of those whose roots are in Africa. Rather, it is part of every person who proudly calls South Africa home. After all Indians are not just settlers. These have become Indegenes of South Africa.
Many South Africans of all races have found employment because of Indians, who have built businesses and industries, growing our economy. Knowing the debt of gratitude we owe, Indians should be lauded as some of our greatest patriots. Yet there are political leaders now who want to paint Indians as racists and less deserving of the fruits of democracy. It is completely unacceptable.
This anti-Indian sentiment, like any social divisions, must be countered with truth and social cohesion. I am a champion of social cohesion, not because I am a politician, but because I know that we have a common destiny. It is in the interests of Indian South Africans. It is in the interest of black South Africans. It must be done because it is the right thing to do.
I must say, at my age, I hoped there would be greater social cohesion by now. I realise that there is still pain from the Durban race riots of 1949 which saw Indians brutally attacked. I remember long conversations I had with Professor Fatima Meer on how we could heal that wound. Professor Meer became instrumental in establishing the Durban District Women’s League to rebuild alliances between Africans and Indians. I went on to chair the Black Alliance, with the same purpose.
We did this with leaders such as Mr Yellan Chinsamy’s Reform Party, the coloured Labour Party, black parties such as the Dikwakwentla Party and Inyandza Movement and leaders such as the late Mr Rajbansi. It was when the Apartheid Regime introduced the tricameral parliament that the South African Black Alliance was destroyed. We worked further with some Indians leaders when the KwaZulu Natal Joint Executive Authority which governed this Province before 1994 was inaugurated. These included such leaders as the well-known Mr Rajab. And quite a number of Indian leaders had also cooperated when I founded the KwaZulu Natal Indaba.
But even just before her passing, Professor Meer remained concerned about the lack of social cohesion between our people. She wanted us to establish an Indo-African Institute in KwaZulu Natal, which she asked me to chair. Tragically, she passed away before that Institute could be birthed. I still hope that it will be taken up by this generation of activists and leaders. Leaders who were with us in that effort were people such as our Anglican Bishop, the Rt Rev Reuben Philips and Professor Desai.
There is still a gap between our people that needs to be closed. In spite of the long history between us, I regret that so few Indians have been attracted to the predominantly black political organisations, like the ANC and the IFP. I don’t say this to upset anyone. I just think it needs to be considered; because if we know why, we can begin to close that gap between us. If we do have a common destiny, then this cannot be just a matter of choice. There is no other option.
We need to work together. Because, as I said, we have a common destiny. We are all talking about the same things. We are all worried about load shedding, and petrol price hikes, and the level of corruption being exposed by the Commission on State Capture. We are all worried about crime. I was shocked by the recent home invasion suffered by Dr Devi Rajab of the Democracy Development Program. But as she said, she is now just a statistic.
I am also deeply concerned by where the policy of land expropriation without compensation will lead us, if we do not handle it with great care. It is certain to deter foreign investment, but it may also reopen racial tensions in our country. Many of your parents and grandparents were forcefully resettled under the Group Areas Act. The pain of that remains with us. It is difficult to conceive of a democratic Government giving itself that same power to forcefully resettle citizens, taking whatever land it wants, without any compensation.
The IFP has been vocal in saying there must be compensation. We understand the need to redress the wrongs of the past. But we cannot accept new wrongs being committed. The end does not justify the means. Not in a democracy. In other words the IFP does believe in expropriation as set out in the Constitution. We believe that it can be done under the present Constitution. We are still going to have our Party’s Conference to put the proposal to amend the Constitution to our delegates.
Friends, I have veered off somewhat from the topic before me. But a discussion on the impact of Indians in coming to South Africa must inevitably lead to the present day, where Indian and South African are two names for the same thing.
Our culture, like every other aspect of life, has been inestimably enriched by the presence of Indians on our soil. As we continue the journey of democracy, our shared journey will undoubtedly produce new reasons to say thank you. Thank you, and thank you indeed.