O Mathafa
November 16 2024 will mark the 164th anniversary of the first indentured Indian workers landed in Durban aboard the SS Truro from Madras, here to work in the sugar cane plantation of the then Port-Natal. These 152184 indentured labourers were not free men and women. They were indentured labourers, here on a promise of a slave wage and a free voyage to then Natal. On November 16 the 1860 Heritage Centre will host a public commemoration ceremony in celebration of this day. The event will include an interfaith prayer, the South African National Anthem, and a bell-ringing ceremony and an address from the KwaZulu Government.
The ANC acknowledges the significant role played by the Indians in the history of this country. Upon arrival, the Indians were subjected to all forms of discrimination including being denied full citizenship of their new country. One of the first such discriminatory legislation aimed at Indians was passed in 1885 and prohibited Indians from full citizenship, and owning property and limited them to walking on separate pavements from so-called Europeans. It is therefore no surprise that the Indian community found a common cause with the struggling masses of South Africa who were largely African. It is this history of colonialism and apartheid which defined the resistance movement. Those who were oppressed together joined forces against our common enemy leading to our eventual freedom in 1994. The ANC defined the “Four Pillars” of struggle as being Mass Mobilisation, Armed Operations, Underground Organisation and International Solidarity work. The people of Indian origin took leadership in all of them. The ANC pays tribute to the Indian community for their resilience and solidarity in helping to build a better South Africa.