Durban - UNITY and social cohesion among South Africans were essential for the future prosperity of the country, said KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala.
He was speaking at an event to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indian indentured labourers held at the Shri Mariammen Temple in Mount Edgecombe yesterday.
The premier paid homage to the indentured workers who were shipped from India and first arrived in South Africa on November 16, 1860.
“We honour the courage, sacrifice and struggle of those 152 000 women, men and children. They span 1.5 million proud South Africans of Indian heritage,” he said.
Zikalala said the Indian forefathers and mothers would be proud that people of different races had worked together to build schools, temples, hospitals, churches, universities and mosques.
“No community has done this on their own. It has taken the toil of all of us. Indian labourers were in the oppressive system that also saw the African migrant labour system prevailing in South Africa,” he said.
He said people should remember the heroes and heroines who fought for freedom.
“We salute all of those who fought for the liberation of our country, who fought for the heritage of our society as a whole,” said Zikalala.
He quoted Oliver Tambo, who in his acceptance speech for the 1980 Nehru Award of International Understanding in Delhi said that after just two years of forced labour, Indians staged their first strike against the working conditions in Natal.
“Tambo said their descendants, working and fighting for the future of their country, South Africa, retained the tradition of militant struggle and were today an integral part of the mass-based liberation movement in South Africa,” he said.
He said this proclamation was made with the understanding that South Africa belonged to all who lived in it.
“The unity of all racial groups in
South Africa is quite important for the future of the country,” he said.
He added that a lack of social cohesion as well as social ills including crime, drug and substance abuse, as well as teenage pregnancy were negatively affecting society.
Zikalala said that another challenge to building an integrated and coherent society was dealing with discrimination.
“You cannot emerge and prosper on your own. We need each other. We must build solidarity and continue to support each other for the prosperity of our
country,” he said. Zikalala also unveiled a monument dedicated to women at the event.
Seelan Archary, the chairperson of the Shri Mariammen Temple Society and 1860 Commemoration Council, said November 16, 1860, was the most important date in the lives of South Africans of Indian heritage.
Referring to the importance of the monument, Archary said Indian women were “superhuman” because of the many roles they had to take on as mothers, wives and daughters.
Dr Selvan Naicker, the chairperson of
the Mount Edgecombe Hindu Trust, said the monument was different to other monuments at the temple because it had kitchen items including a grinding stone, rolling pin and lamp to pay homage to the role of women and mothers.
A book on the history of the indentured Indians, authored by Paul David, Ranjith Choonilal, Kiru Naidoo and Selvan Naidoo was also launched at the event.
Kiru said the book, which was three years in the making, told the story of Indian indenture within the broad social and political fabric of the country.
The Mercury