A lot has been said in the media about Indians, ranging from those who display mild dissent to extremely harsh statements about Indians as a group.
Some people have complained about Indians dominating the economy.
The KZN ANC leadership has come out strongly against inflammatory statements that may lead to violence, and must be commended for this.
Indians have been accused of many misdeeds, from exploitative labour practices to ring-fencing government tenders for their own kind.
How did two communities that got on so well before the Group Areas Act reach this point where one is dedicated to limiting or, worse, eliminating the progress of the other?
I blame community and political leaders for us having reached this point in Indo-African relations.
The warning signs have been there for some time now, yet there have not been any campaigns to address the relationship between these two groups.
Did our leaders really naively believe that all was fine in these relations, with the following history?
* Besides the official relationship between the ANC and the Natal Indian Congress, racial fighting broke out in 1949 between Indians and Africans in Durban.
* In 1983, Indian leaders accepted participation in the Tricameral Parliament, a system that excluded Africans from the vote. As much as some Indians, largely through the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front, opposed the tricameral system, Indians largely accepted it and benefited therefrom.
As a result of this system which made them second-class citizens (above Africans), Indians had better education support in terms of schools, curriculum, and fees. There were other benefits that accrued to Indians for accepting the tricameral parliament.
While I have not conducted a survey, I dare say that Indo-African relations were more strained then than in any other period.
* During the early days of the existence of the United Democratic Front, there was a political party whose leaders accused African youth of being under the spell of Indians (actually the derogatory term was used), with the latter supposedly on the vengeful path for the atrocities of 1949.
Indians were accused of ensuring that Africans rejected education so that the former would dominate the economic and academic corridors later.
* There was a Truth and Reconciliation Commission at which largely whites had the opportunity to tell the truth and apologise for apartheid and for victims to find closure. Did 1949 feature at the TRC? I don’t think so.
* Rev Allan Hendrickse of the House of Representatives (the Coloured House of Parliament) apologised to the United Congregational Church and South Africans in general for participating in an apartheid-enforcing structure.
I don’t remember Amichand Rajbansi of the House of Delegates (Indian House of Parliament) doing the same.
* Many Africans believe that Indians hold them in disdain because, for instance, the former will give the latter their food but will not take food from Africans – the same kind of food they would eat if a catering company provided it in the workplace.
Our leaders have neglected their duty to teach the nation about the positive contribution of Indians in this country.
Had they done so, it would have been difficult for those who advocate adversely against Indians to get a receptive ear.
History is replete with heroes of the struggle from the Indian community:
* The likes of Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Dr Monty Naicker, Billy Nair, Lenny Naidoo, Jay Naidoo, Ishmael Meer, Fatima Meer, Phyllis Naidoo, Ahmed Kathrada and many others put into practice their abhorrence of racism by siding with the oppressed when it was dangerous to do so.
* Some of us are in senior positions and the upper echelons of business and government because institutions such as the ML Sultan Technikon (now DUT after being merged with Natal Technikon) defied apartheid and opened their doors to Africans.
May I add that they did this without being asked to do so. They simply remembered that Africans were their brothers and sisters.
* Many Indian lawyers risked their lives and careers to represent members of the liberation movement in court.
I remember attending the bail application of “Gebhuza” (now retired General Sphiwe Nyanda), and being impressed by the performance of the blind advocate Zac Yacoob (now a judge).
* How many people know how instrumental Fatima Meer was in starting Phambili High School for the sake of those African kids who belonged to the United Democratic Front who were thrown out of school by principals aligned to a certain political party, which now claims to have fought for liberation?
* How many people are aware of the role played by Ela Gandhi in starting and sustaining the Career Information Centre when career guidance was as good as non-existent in African schools?
* Do people know the role played by Mac Maharaj in Operation Vula, under the auspices of Umkhonto we Sizwe?
* Do people know of the role played by the Community Research Unit which was run by Vish Sewpersad?
What about the Labour Research Unit which was run by Ketso Gordhan?
The point is that I can write an encyclopaedia on the positive role played by Indians in this country.
Another point I wish to make is that our leaders must stop pretending that there are no problems between Indians and Africans.
Indian leaders must stop defending their kind and pretending that all that is said about Indians is a lie. That approach is highly dishonest and disingenuous and therefore does not help nation-building.
While upholding the principles of the constitution, they must also demand that we address reasons for the strained relations.
We must find out why anti-Indian sentiment finds resonance in African communities.
Throwing the book at perpetrators of hate speech is necessary but the impact of that approach will be very limited.
There must be genuine engagement, not glossing over.
Indians are no little devils, nor are they angels.
* Nyuswa is a senior manager in the KZN Provincial Government. He writes in his personal capacity.