THE Asherville Hub - as it was popularly referred to - was the heartbeat of this Durban community, where joy and suffering were shared and lifelong bonds were forged.
Comprising the sports grounds, the Balkumar swimming bath and the David Landau Community Centre, it was at these landmarks that social and political consciousness was heightened to transform the community.
The origins of these facilities is thoroughly recounted in Asherville-Springtown: People and Place, a coffee table tome that records the life and times of the people of the Asherville-Springtown area.
The book - which will be launched at the David Landau Community Centre on November 4 at 3pm - is the work of a research and writing team headed by Pravin Ram, a senior education specialist, and Hemant Nowbath, a psychiatrist in private practice.
From the days of indenture, sport provided a means to knit communities together and develop a strong sense of social cohesion.
“In the early years, as successive city councils grappled with the Indian housing question, there was little more than commitment to provide anything but rudimentary structures to house Indian people. The provision of sports facilities was, therefore, not a priority.”
Asherville was fortunate - it was provided with three sports fields which hosted football, cricket and athletics. The sports grounds were also used to shelter refugees from Tin Town during the 1976 floods, for large funerals, as well as school sports events.
It was a historical event when the swimming pool was opened on June, 2, 1957 - the first to be built in an Indian area in the country.
Balkumar Singh, who was born in 1909 and lived in the area known as Ticka Singh’s Bend, was concerned about the high rate of drownings in the Umgeni River. A good swimmer, he founded a voluntary lifesaving club in 1932. A year later, in 1933, the Durban Indian Surf Lifesaving Club was formally established.
For 23 years he did battle with the city council to build a swimming pool and when he eventually succeeded, the new facility in Asherville was named after him.
The third public facility that made up the Asherville Hub was the David Landau Community Centre in Crocus Road, which was built on council leasehold property.
Since opening its doors on October 1, 1961, it has provided the residents with health, social and cultural programmes, as well as a pre-school. It has been a central venue for political “conscientising” of the people and is named after David Landau, a medical doctor who established the Springfield Health Care Centre and did great humanitarian work.
Educational institutions were also landmarks in Asherville. The establishment of the Nagari Pracharni Sabha School in 1929, with Ramtahal Chotai as principal, was a significant event in the provision of early schooling for children living in Springtown.
The Arya Samaj in Springfield took its cue from the NPS and established the Arya Samaj State Aided School in Dahlia Road.
The Springfield Teachers’ Training College in 1951 was the first significant landmark in Asherville and was established at a time of political transition in the country. The establishment of the college represented a major shift in the provision of education for Indians. High-quality training was provided to thousands of teachers.
The opening of Springfield Model School in July 1956 was groundbreaking because for many years after its establishment, most “Indian schools” remained ill-equipped.
Asherville is also home to the former King George V Hospital, which was officially opened by medical superintendent Dr BA Dormer on March 31, 1939. It originally catered for the sick and wounded soldiers during World War 2. It later became a TB hospital.
At the time of the founding of the Springfield Housing Estate, TB was at its most virulent and infectious stage, with high mortality rates.
It was widely believed that the declaration of Asherville as an Indian suburb was intended for it to act as a buffer between King George V Hospital and the whites who were settled in neighbouring areas, who feared the spread of the disease. Many Indians also hesitated buying in Asherville for fear of TB.
A friend, Jay Naidoo, who is settled in Australia, recalled after reading about Asherville-Springtown: People and Place, in POST online last week, that in 1954, his late father MK Naidoo built a house in Tulip Place, where a dairy once stood, for R4000 - and unfortunately could not afford another R90 to raise the house to road level.
He recalled that his maternal grandmother looked down on his father for building in Asherville as it was a “TB area”.
“In the mid-60s there was a house for sale in Tulip for around R7000. My father suggested to my grandmother that she should buy it. She refused because of the TB stigma. She was eventually displaced from North Street in Greyville under the Group Areas Act and shunted to Unit 11 in Chatsworth. She hated it. She eventually passed away about five years later,” he said.
People from Asherville and Springtown shopped in Sydenham and Overport. The book records: “Essack Ismail’s shop in Stanley Copley Drive was very popular. In Overport, the Pathers had a shop in Brickfield Road and Lala Govind had one in Hill Street. In Mallinson Road, there was Ismail’s Supply Stores and Ramjee’s.”
According to transport history contributor to the book, Zainul Dawood, the first Indian-owned bus company to operate in the area was Mooruth’s. The first departure from the suburb into the city was at 4am and the last arrival at 7pm.
Later bus services offered were the Springfield-Overport Bus Service run by the Pathers of Brickfield Road and Imperial Bus Service run by the Ramkissoon family of Overport. The Durban City Council (DCC) ran double decker buses up to King George V Hospital, with the first deck and about four rows upstairs being reserved for whites.
Apart from brick and mortar landmarks, Asherville was also home to leading personalities.
Struggle stalwarts include, among many others, Monty Naicker, Ismail and Fatima Meer, RD Naidu, Swaminathan Gounden, Dr K Goonum, Billy Nair, DK Singh, Abdul Randeree, Amod Randeree, RA Pillay, Rad Thumbadoo, Roy Gopaulsingh, Vasi Nair, MV Rajah, Johnny Naicker, Dhanpal Naidoo, R Ramesar, MA Khan, MN Padayachee, MP Naicker, GS Naidu, Samba Ramsamy, Rama Reddy, Vasu Gounden, Amar Ramlochan and Mohamed Adam.
Benefactors and philanthropists with strong links to Asherville include Mahabeer Ramawtar, Ramlochan Jandoo, Gianchand Ramdutt, Munroop Ramsaroop, Deochand Ishwarpursadh, VSV Pillay, KP Naidoo, Tom Nateson Govender, GV Naidoo, Pramda Ramasar, Daoud Mall and Leslie Peters.
Many talented sportsmen emerged from the area. However, it was in the field of sports administration, both pre- and post-apartheid, that the likes of Munroop Ramsaroop, SK Reddy, Logan Naidoo, Maniraj Singh, SK Chetty, Sam Ramsamy, Morgan Naidoo and his son, Jace, made their mark.
POST