116-622: The South African Indian Congress ( SAIC ) was an umbrella body founded in 1921 to coordinate between political organisations representing Indians in the various provinces of South Africa . Its members were the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), and, initially, the Cape British Indian Council. It advocated non-violent resistance to discriminatory laws and in its formative years
232-475: A national referendum on Apartheid in 1992 for the White population alone that asked them if they supported the government's policy to end apartheid and establish elections open to all South Africans: a large majority voted in favour of the government's policy. In the 1994 elections , it expanded its base to include many non-Whites, including significant support from Coloured and Indian South Africans. It participated in
348-895: A South African civic nationalist party, and after the fall of apartheid in 1994, attempted to become a moderate conservative one. The party's reputation was damaged irreparably by perpetrating apartheid, and it rebranded itself as the New National Party in 1997 before eventually dissolving in 2005. Beginning in 1948 following the general election , the party as the governing party of South Africa began implementing its policy of racial segregation , known as apartheid (the Afrikaans term for "separateness"). Although White-minority rule and racial segregation were already in existence in South Africa with non-Whites not having voting rights and efforts made to encourage segregation, apartheid intensified
464-760: A backtrack as the Statute of Westminster resolved that British Dominions could not have "total" control over their external concerns, but in 1934 the Status and Seals Acts were passed, granting the South African Parliament even greater power than the British government over the Union. The extreme NP members of the 1930s were known collectively as the Republikeinse Bond. The following organisations, parties and events promoted
580-484: A first language or second language. In some small towns in the former Transvaal, Afrikaans is used as a first language by older Indians. Almost all younger people have English as their first language. The compulsory second language taught at school, such as Afrikaans or Zulu , is either spoken or understood. As a result of promotion by cultural organisations and the influence of Indian cinemas, many younger Indians can understand (but not usually speak) Indian languages to
696-454: A legal dispute. Following his arrival in South Africa, Gandhi experienced racial discrimination, and, following the proposal of legislation to restrict Indian voting rights in Natal, he helped organise resistance, leading to the formation of the Natal Indian Congress . This organised resistance led to the unification of disparate groups of South African Indians for the first time. Although the bill
812-407: A limited degree. Recent immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have maintained fluency in their mother tongues. Curried dishes are popular in South Africa among people of all ethnic origins; many dishes came to the country with the thousands of Indian labourers brought to South Africa in the nineteenth century. South African Indian cuisine adapted to local ingredients, and dishes include
928-513: A link between the government and the Indian people. The University of Durban-Westville (now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal ) was built with a Rand-for-Rand contribution from Indian South Africans and the government in the 1970s. Before that, Indian students had to take a ferry to Salisbury Island's abandoned prison, which served as their university. Casual racist expressions were used during
1044-590: A member of the British Commonwealth. When this was granted the following year by the London Declaration , It roused much debate in South Africa between the pro-republican NP and the anti-republican UP (under Strauss). It meant that, even if South Africa did become a republic, it did not automatically have to sever all of its ties with the UK and the British Commonwealth. This gained the movement further support from
1160-550: A proliferation of right-wing parties siphoned off important segments of its traditional voter base. Throughout its reign, the party's support came mainly from Afrikaners , but other White people were courted by and increasingly voted for the NP after 1960. By the 1980s, however, in reaction to the "verligte" reforms of P. W. Botha , the majority of Afrikaners drifted to the Conservative Party of Andries Treurnicht , who called for
1276-618: A republic before changing its mind and deciding that it was too early. The Afrikaner Broederbond , a secret organization founded in 1918 to support the interests of Afrikaners in South Africa, soon became a powerful force in the South African political scene. The Republican Bond was established in the 1930s, and other republican organisations such as the Purified National Party , the Voortrekkers , Noodhulpliga (First-Aid League) and
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#17328478206321392-580: A republic outside the Commonwealth. His decision was received with regret by the Prime Ministers of the UK, Australia and New Zealand but was met with obvious approval from South Africa's critics. Verwoerd said the next day that the move would not affect South Africa's relationship with the United Kingdom. On his homecoming, he was met with a rapturous reception. Afrikaner nationalists were not deterred by
1508-461: A segregated nation. The United Party held a 100,000-vote lead. Consequently, the NP had to rely on the Afrikaner Party's support. It did not, therefore, have the groundswell of public support that it needed to win a referendum, and only when it had that majority on its side could a referendum be held on the republican matter. However, with a small seating majority and a total vote-tally minority, it
1624-746: A sentiment rooted in Boer history. Beginning in 1836, waves of Boers began to migrate north from the Cape Colony to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration . Eventually, the migrating Boers founded three republics in southern Africa: the Natalia Republic , the South African Republic and the Orange Free State . British colonial expansion in the 19th century led to the annexation of
1740-638: A variety of curries, rotis, sweetmeats , chutneys , fried snacks such as samosa (called samoosa in South Africa ), and other savoury foods. Bunny chow , an Indian dish from Durban consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry, was invented by necessity, as Indians were not allowed to eat at their own restaurants. The dish forms part of mainstream South African cuisine and has become quite popular. Even though Indian languages are seldom spoken or understood by younger Indians, English- subtitled Indian films and television programmes remain popular among South African Indians. These are broadcast both by
1856-532: Is also estimated that there are around 13,000 Sikhs in South Africa. The majority of South African Muslims are Indian or belong to the multi-ethnic community in the Western Cape. The proportion of Indian South Africans following Hinduism have decreased from 50% in 1996 to 47.27% in 2001. This decreased to 41.3% in 2016, and further decreased to 37.9% in 2022. This is mainly due to the conversion of Hindus to Christianity by missionaries. Like Coloureds, until
1972-594: Is dated as the beginning of Indian settlement in Natal, a farmer called ER Rathbone was the first to introduce Indian labour to the colony in 1849. Indentured labourers on sugar plantations were frequently mistreated and lived in unsanitary conditions. A large percentage of indentured labourers returned to India following the expiry of their terms, and some of those who returned alerted authorities in India to abuses taking place in Natal, which led to new safeguards being put in place before further recruiting of indentured labourers
2088-547: The Herenigde Nasionale Party (Reunited National Party), which went on to defeat Smuts' United Party in 1948 in coalition with the much smaller Afrikaner Party . In 1951, the two amalgamated to once again become known simply as the National Party. Upon taking power after the 1948 general election , the NP began to implement a program of apartheid – the legal system of political, economic and social separation of
2204-536: The 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in London to discuss South Africa becoming a republic within the Commonwealth, presenting the Republic of South Africa 's application for a renewal of its membership to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had earlier declined to predict how republican status would affect South Africa's membership; it did not want to be seen meddling in its members' domestic affairs. However, many of
2320-473: The DStv satellite television service, which carries Zee TV , B4U , NDTV , and a Hindi-language Sony channel. In addition, Tamil –language channels, Sun TV and KTV, were introduced in 2004. DVD, and previously, video versions of Bollywood films are widely available. Large cinema chains like Ster-Kinekor began showing Bollywood films by the early 2000s. Indian culture in South Africa has some similarities to
2436-533: The Group Areas Act , applied in 1950, Indians were forcibly moved into Indian townships , and had their movements restricted. They were not allowed to reside in the Orange Free State Province , and needed special permission to enter or transit through that province. They were also, as a matter of state policy, given an inferior education compared to white South Africans . The Asiatic Land Tenure and
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#17328478206322552-592: The Mysorean Muslim king Hyder Ali to overthrow the king of Cochin, Kalaga Prabhu and his son Chorda Prabhu were arrested by the Dutch and exiled with their families for life to the Cape of Good Hope in 1771. No further record of this individual and his descendants if any exists. Almost all South African Indians are either Hindu , Christian , or Muslim . There are also small groups of Parsis , Sikhs , and Buddhists . It
2668-861: The Natalia Republic by Britain and the First and Second Boer Wars , which resulted in the South African Republic and the Orange Free State being annexed into the Empire as well. Despite Britain's victory in the Second Boer War, Afrikaners resisted British control in southern Africa. In 1914, a group of anti-British Afrikaners led the Maritz rebellion against the Union of South Africa during World War I ; two years later, an NP congress called for South Africa to become
2784-516: The Nationalist Party , was a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which was responsible for the implementation of apartheid rule . The party was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party, which initially promoted the interests of Afrikaners but later became a stalwart promoter and enactor of white supremacy , for which it is best known. It first became the governing party of
2900-526: The Parliament of South Africa . The White minority of South West Africa, predominantly Germans and Afrikaners, considered its interests akin to those of the Afrikaners in South Africa and therefore supported the National Party in subsequent elections. These reforms bolstered the NP politically, as they removed Black and Coloured influence – which was hostile to the NP – from the electoral process and incorporated
3016-539: The South African government and Indian authorities had a Round Table conference where it was agreed that the Indian government would create a scheme for the repatriation of Indians, with the South African government agreeing to "uplift" the Indians who remained, monitored by an Indian government Agent. However, fewer Indians than expected were repatriated, and racial tensions continued to simmer between Indians and whites, into
3132-437: The post-apartheid South Africa . These recent migrants are usually not regarded as being part of the Indian community, although they often live in traditionally Indian areas. Among these post-apartheid immigrants, the controversial Gupta family from India, managed to acquire vast political and economic influence in a short time, under the reign of former President Jacob Zuma . Traders from India may have been active on
3248-464: The sugarcane plantations of Natal Colony , and, in total, approximately 200,000 Indians arrived as indentured labourers over a period of 5 decades, later also as indentured coal miners and railway workers. The indentured labourers tended to speak Tamil , Telugu , Bhojpuri and the Awadhi dialect of Hindi , and the majority were Hindu with Muslim and Christian minorities. Indians were imported as it
3364-616: The white minority , which held the vast majority of political power. During the period of apartheid from 1948 to 1994, Indian South Africans were legally classified as being a separate racial group. Some Indian South Africans believed that these terms were improvements on the negatively defined identity of "Non-White", which was their previous status. Politically conscious and nationalistic Indian South Africans wanted to show both their heritage and their local roots in South Africa. Increasingly they self-identified as "African", "South African" and, when necessary, "Indian South Africans". During
3480-418: The " Cape Coloured " and Cape Malay communities. White Afrikaners also may have some Indian slave ancestry, an example of this being former State President F.W. de Klerk , who revealed in his autobiography that one of his ancestors was a female slave called Diana of Bengal . There is no reference to the real names of these Indians and were given "Christian" names for convenience. This all contributed to
3596-541: The "Lion of the North", Strijdom made few changes to his cabinet and pursued with vigour the policy of apartheid. By 1956, he successfully placed the Coloureds on a separate voters' roll, thus further weakening ties with the Commonwealth and gaining support for the NP. He also took several other steps to make South Africa less dependent on Britain: Anti-republican South Africans recognised the shift and distancing from Britain, and
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3712-528: The 1919 Paris Peace Conference was a definite (if failed) attempt to gain independence. In 1926, however, the Balfour Declaration was passed, affording every British dominion within the British Empire equal rank and bestowing upon them their right of the direction of foreign issues. This resulted the following year in the institution of South Africa's first-ever Department of Foreign Affairs. 1931 saw
3828-484: The 1930s, the incumbent leadership was challenged by a group of younger activists, labelled radicals , who advocated for a more militant form of non-violent resistance to racist laws, as well as for cooperation with South Africa's black African majority . Their influence grew until 1945–1946, when two of the radical leaders, Monty Naicker and Yusuf Dadoo , were elected as the leaders of the NIC and TIC respectively. In 1946,
3944-513: The 1940s. The Durban riots was an anti-Indian riot predominantly by Zulus targeting Indians in Durban, South Africa in January 1949. The riots resulted in the massacre of mostly poor Indians. In total 142 people died in the riots and another 1,087 people were injured. It also led to the destruction of 58 shops, 247 dwellings and one factory. Discriminated against by apartheid legislation, such as
4060-564: The ANC and other anti-apartheid movements. In September 1990 the party opened up its membership to all racial groups and rebranded itself as no longer being an ethnic nationalist party only representing Afrikaners, but would henceforth be a civic nationalist and conservative party representing all South Africans. However, there was significant opposition among hardliner supporters of apartheid that resulted in De Klerk's government responding to them by holding
4176-477: The Apartheid government which strictly codified the physical and cultural boundaries between "race groups", and encouraged these group identities. As a result of these Apartheid rules, South Africans continue to identify themselves, and informally classify each other as, " blacks ", " whites ", " Coloureds " and "Indians". Despite living in South Africa for more than 150 years, and being an officially recognized part of
4292-430: The British government was no longer prepared to stand by South Africa's racist policies. Nevertheless, the referendum was a significant victory for Afrikaner nationalism as British political and cultural influence waned in South Africa. However, one question remained after the referendum: would South Africa become a republic outside the Commonwealth (the outcome favoured by the most Afrikaner nationalists)? Withdrawal from
4408-553: The Common Roll of Cape Province in 1953. Instead of voting for the same representatives as White South Africans, they could now vote only for four White representatives to speak for them. Later, in 1968, the Coloureds were disenfranchised altogether. In the place of the four parliamentary seats, a partially elected body was set up to advise the government in an amendment to the Separate Representation of Voters Act . This made
4524-483: The Commonwealth would likely alienate English speakers and damage relations with many other countries. Former British colonies such as India, Pakistan and Ghana were all republics within the Commonwealth, and Verwoerd announced that South Africa would follow suit "if possible". In January 1961, Verwoerd's government enacted legislation to transform the Union of South Africa into the Republic of South Africa. The constitution
4640-522: The Conference's affiliates (prominent among them the Afro-Asia group and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ) attacked South Africa's racial policies and rebuffed Verwoerd's application; they would go to any lengths to expel South Africa from the Commonwealth. Numerous anti-apartheid movements also campaigned for South Africa's exclusion from the UK. Some member countries warned that they would pull out of
4756-512: The Durban area, to refer to themselves. Card games , in particular, the trick-taking card game Thunee (similar to Twenty-eight ) are popular among South African Indians. Radio Hindvani is a community radio station based in Durban and is aimed at the promotion of Hindi culture and language amongst South Africans. The station's frequency reaches Durban and all surrounding areas. National Party (South Africa) The National Party ( Afrikaans : Nasionale Party , NP ), also known as
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4872-578: The English-speaking populace, which was less worried about being isolated, and the republican ideal looked closer than ever to being fulfilled. Although he could not make South Africa a republic, Malan could prepare the country for this eventuality. In his term of office, from 1948 to 1954, Malan took several steps to break ties with the UK: The 1953 ballot votes saw the NP fortify its position considerably, winning comfortably but still falling well short of
4988-589: The Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings (Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations) also came into being. There was a widespread outpouring of nationalist sentiment around the 1938 centenary of the Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River . It was seen to signify the perpetuation of white South African culture, and anti-British and pro-republican feelings grew more assertive. It was obvious in political circles that
5104-513: The Government of National Unity between 1994 and 1996. In an attempt to distance itself from its past, the party was renamed the New National Party in 1997. The attempt was largely unsuccessful and the new party decided to merge with the ANC. The National Party was founded in Bloemfontein in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists soon after the establishment of the Union of South Africa . Its founding
5220-534: The Hertzog government worked to undermine the vote of Coloureds (South Africans of mixed White and non-White ancestry) by granting the right to vote to White women, thus doubling White political power. In 1934, Hertzog agreed to merge his National Party with the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts to form the United Party . A hardline faction of Afrikaner nationalists led by Daniel François Malan refused to accept
5336-658: The Indian Representative Act of 1946 were repealed. The Population Registration Act, 1950 initially defined Indians as being part of the Coloured population. In 1961, Indians were officially recognised as permanent part of the South African population, the Department of Indian Affairs was established, with a white minister in charge. In 1968, the South African Indian Council came into being, serving as
5452-655: The NIC – signed a joint declaration of co-operation with Alfred Xuma , the leader of the African National Congress (ANC). The document, nicknamed the Doctors' Pact because all three signatories were doctors, pledged "the fullest co-operation between the [black] African and Indian peoples". In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa on a platform of legislating apartheid ; in September that year, Naicker
5568-456: The NIC's case by almost three decades. The CBIC had called repeatedly for a national conference of Indian organisations in 1917 and 1918, and such a conference was finally in the last week of January 1919 in Cape Town . The conference was opened with a speech by J. X. Merriman on 26 January. Another national conference was held in 1920 and, at the third in 1921, it was decided formally to establish
5684-418: The NP was to move all Black South Africans into one of these homelands (although they might continue to work in South Africa as "guest workers"), leaving what was left of South Africa (about 87 per cent of the land area) with what would then be a White majority, at least on paper. As the apartheid government saw the homelands as embryonic independent nations, all Black South Africans were registered as citizens of
5800-552: The NP-led government had South Africa leave the Commonwealth, abandon its monarchy led by the British monarch and become an independent republic. The party's system of apartheid was officially labelled a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. During the 1970s and 1980s, the NP-led white apartheid government faced internal unrest in South Africa and international pressure for
5916-500: The NP-led government led by P. W. Botha and the outlawed ANC led by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela began in 1987 with Botha seeking to accommodate the ANC's demands and consider releasing Mandela and legalising the ANC on the condition that it would renounce the use of political violence to attain its aims. F. W. de Klerk declared in February 1990 the decision to permit the release of Mandela from prison and ending South Africa's ban on
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#17328478206326032-817: The People , and it became a signatory to the Freedom Charter and a member of the Congress Alliance . The three affiliates of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) were the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), the Transvaal British Indian Association (later the Transvaal Indian Congress , TIC), and, during the congress's formative years, the Cape British Indian Council (CBIC). Each of the three affiliates preceded SAIC, in
6148-401: The Republican ideal in the 1930s: There was some confusion about the republican ideal during the war years. The Herenigde Nasionale Party , with Hertzog its leader, pushed the issue into the background. After Hertzog left the party, however, it became republican. In 1942 and 1944, D. F. Malan introduced a motion in the House of Assembly in favour of the establishment of a republic, but this
6264-416: The SAIC as an umbrella body. Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri was elected inaugural president of the SAIC. Over the next decade, the SAIC, like its affiliates, was a moderate and even conservative body; dominated by an elite class of South African Indians, its primary methods were petitions, deputations to the authorities, and appeals for help to the government of India, then under British control . However, during
6380-431: The SAIC, again with the ANC, was involved in organising the Congress of the People , at which it became a signatory of the Freedom Charter and a member of the Congress Alliance . Several members of the SAIC and both of its provincial wings were charged in the Treason Trial that followed the Congress of the People. From 1960, the apartheid government embarked on an unprecedented programme to repress opposition groups in
6496-437: The SAIC, with Mahatma Gandhi 's support, resolved to protest the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act , which it nicknamed the Ghetto Act. The NIC and TIC each established ad hoc committees – the NIC in March and the TIC in April – which organised a campaign of passive resistance against the law. The campaign continued for two years, from June 1946 to June 1948, and involved the arrest of almost 2,000 protestors. At
6612-563: The Transvaal. Persons of colour could also not walk on sidewalks in the Transvaal. Following the end of the Second Boer War, the new colonial administration of the Transvaal Colony continued to maintain the same discriminatory practices against Indians. Passenger Indians who moved to the Cape Colony , although facing petty discrimination, were generally well treated, could own property, could vote, and could trade freely. Many Muslim men in this group married Cape Malay women, and their children were later often classified as Cape Malay as part of
6728-445: The UK. South Africa now had its first independent constitution. However, the only real constitutional change was that the State President, in charge for seven years, would assume the now-vacant position of the Queen as Head of State. C. R. Swart , the State President-elect, took the first republican oath as State President of South Africa before Chief Justice L. C. Steyn (DRC). Although White inhabitants were generally happy with
6844-432: The UP grew increasingly anxious, doing all it could to persuade Parliament to retain Commonwealth links. Strijdom, however, declared that South Africa's participation (or otherwise) in the Commonwealth would be determined only by its best interests. The question of apartheid dominated the 1958 election, and the NP took 55% of the vote, thus winning a clear majority for the first time. When Strijdom died that same year, there
6960-440: The Union of South Africa was headed inevitably towards republicanism. Although it remained a Dominion after unification in 1910, the country was granted increased amounts of self-government ; indeed, it already had complete autonomy on specific issues. It was agreed in 1910 that the South African government would look after domestic matters but that the country's external affairs would remain British-controlled. Hertzog's trip to
7076-544: The accommodation of non-Whites in South Africa. It resulted in policies of granting concessions to the non-White population while still retaining the apartheid system, such as the creation of Bantustans that were autonomous self-governing Black homelands (criticised for several of them being broken up into unconnected pieces and that they were still dominated by the White minority South African government), removing legal prohibitions on interracial marriage, and legalising certain non-White and multiracial political parties (excluding
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#17328478206327192-430: The aftermath of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre . Though the SAIC and its affiliates were not banned by the government, many of its leading members faced banning orders . Others were imprisoned for their activities in Umkhonto we Sizwe , an armed opposition group, or went into exile abroad to evade police harassment or join the exiled South African Communist Party . The SAIC and its affiliates fell into dormancy. The NIC
7308-542: The anniversary of several historical events, the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Anglo-Boer War; South Africa's becoming a union in 1910; and the first hoisting of the Union flag in 1928. The Afrikaner republican dream had finally come to reality. The significance of Commonwealth withdrawal turned out to be less than expected. It was not necessary for South Africa to amend its trading preferences, and Prime Minister Macmillan reciprocated Verwoerd's assurance that withdrawal would not alter trade between South Africa and
7424-407: The apartheid era. Its popular vote record was more mixed: While it won the popular vote with a comfortable margin in most general elections, the NP carried less than 50% of the electorate in 1948, 1953, 1961, and 1989. In 1977, the NP got its best-ever result in the elections with the support of 64.8% of the White voters and 134 parliamentary seats out of 165. After this, the party's consent declined as
7540-412: The clear majority it sought: it had 94 seats in parliament to the UP's 57 and the Labour Party's five. Malan retired in 1954 at the age of eighty. The two succession contenders were J. G. Strijdom (Minister of Lands and Irrigation) and Havenga (Minister of Finance). Malan personally preferred the latter and, indeed, recommended him. Malan and Strijdom had clashed frequently over the years, particularly on
7656-405: The council. In 1983, the Constitution was reformed to allow the Coloured and Indian minorities a limited participation in separate and subordinate Houses of a Tricameral Parliament , a development which saw limited support and very low voter turnouts. The Indian house was called the House of Delegates . Some aspects of Indian life were regulated by this house, including education. The theory
7772-467: The country in 1924. It merged with its rival, the SAP, during the Great Depression , and a splinter faction became the official opposition during World War II and returned to power. With the National Party governing South Africa from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994 , the country for the bulk of this time was only a de jure or partial democracy, as from 1958 onwards non-white people were barred from voting . In 1990, it began to style itself as simply
7888-472: The eastern coast of South Africa for centuries, including before the Dutch settlement of the Cape Colony in 1652. A significant proportion of slaves imported into the Cape were from parts of India (which included present-day Bangladesh), Indonesia and Sri Lanka. While South African scholars mistakenly assumed these slaves were bought in "slave markets", many of the slaves were victims of kidnapping. Many slaves had no identity as Indians and were subsumed into
8004-401: The electorate entirely White, as Indian South Africans had never had any representation. In a move unrecognised by the rest of the world, the former German colony of South West Africa (now Namibia ), which South Africa had occupied in World War I , was effectively incorporated into South Africa as a League of Nations mandate , with seven members elected to represent its White citizens in
8120-399: The end of Apartheid, Indian children largely attended segregated Indian government schools, which were administered nationally, and wrote separate matriculation examinations. These arrangements ended by 1997. Until 1991, state government schools taught in English, choosing one of five Indian languages, namely Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu to be taken as non-examination subjects. But,
8236-924: The establishment of Islam in the areas where they settled. Indian traders were sometimes referred to as " Arab traders" because of their dress, and because large numbers of them were Muslim. Passenger Indians, who initially operated in Durban, expanded inland, to the South African Republic (Transvaal), establishing communities in settlements on the main road between Johannesburg and Durban. Natal's Indian traders rapidly displaced small white shop owners in trade with other Indians, and with black Africans, causing resentment among white businesses. Researchers have made efforts to collect and make available shipping lists of Indian immigrants. Indians faced discrimination to varying degrees in all parts of South Africa. Indians faced repressive legislation in Natal. They were forced to carry passes in 1888. In 1893, M. K. Gandhi arrived in South Africa to represent an Indian businessman in
8352-697: The first language of the majority. Because these children were separated by apartheid from white English-speakers, their English developed in very different ways from South African English . In recent decades, the dialect has come much closer to the standard language through the model taught in schools. The result is a variety of English which mixes features of Indian , South African , Standard British , and other influences. A diminishing minority of Indian South Africans, notably those in older generations, are fluent in their ancestral Indian languages such as Tamil , Gujarati , Marathi , Bengali , Odia , Bhojpuri , Malayalam , Urdu , Hindi , Telugu and others as
8468-416: The foundations for residential segregation in urban areas. Apartheid laws passed by the NP after 1948 included the 'Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act', the 'Immorality Act', the 'Population Registration Act', and the 'Group Areas Act', which prohibited non-white males from being in certain areas of the country (especially at night) unless they were employed there. The NP strongly advocated republicanism ,
8584-573: The government by advocating a "two-stream" policy of equal rights for the English and Afrikaner communities. Afrikaner nationalists in the Transvaal and Cape provinces soon followed suit, so that three distinct provincial NP organisations were in existence in time for the 1915 general elections . The NP first came to power in coalition with the Labour Party in 1924, with Hertzog as Prime Minister . In 1930
8700-720: The height of the campaign, the Indian government took up the SAIC's complaints in the General Assembly of the United Nations ; a SAIC delegation travelled to New York to advise the effort. The Indian resolution was passed in December 1946. Also during the course of the passive resistance campaign, in March 1947, the respective presidents of the two provincial congresses – Dadoo for the TIC and Naicker for
8816-503: The homelands, not of the nation as a whole, and were expected to exercise their political rights only in the homelands. Accordingly, the three token parliamentary seats reserved for White representatives of Black South Africans in the Cape Province were scrapped. The other three provinces – Transvaal Province , the Orange Free State Province , and Natal Province had never allowed any Black representation. Coloureds were removed from
8932-486: The idea. In general, the importation of labour was not viewed as politically important by colonists when it was proposed, and the importation of Indian labour was driven by lobbying by a relatively small group of sugar planters, and the long-term consequences of Indian immigration (the establishment of a permanent Indian population in Natal) were not taken into account (by 1904, Indians outnumbered whites in Natal). Although 1860
9048-545: The ills of apartheid. Commonwealth members were determined to isolate South Africa. There were numerous internal factors which had paved the way for and may be viewed as influences on the result: The opposition accused Verwoerd of trying to break from the Commonwealth and the West, thus losing South Africa's trade preferences. The NP, however, launched a vigorously enthusiastic political campaign with widely advertised public meetings. The opposition found it very difficult to fight for
9164-581: The languages were dropped from state-run schools. The national council for eastern languages has requested the government teach these five languages. The provincial government agreed to allow these languages to be taught in KwaZulu-Natal. These languages can be chosen as a third language up to the final year of school. English is the first language of most Indian South Africans. From the 1950s on, English came to be taught to Indian children in schools, leading to language shift taking place, with English becoming
9280-428: The late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban , making it one of the largest ethnically Indian-populated cities outside of India . As a consequence of the policies of apartheid , Indian (synonymous with Asian) is regarded as a race group in South Africa. During the colonial era, Indians were accorded the same subordinate status in South African society as Blacks were by
9396-836: The loss of identity similar to the Mozambicans and other slaves who were brought to the Cape. Indian slaves who were Muslim became part of the Cape Malay community after they were freed, initially adopting the Malay language , and then Afrikaans. An early Indian to settle in South Africa was Kalaga Prabhu, a Goud Saraswat Brahmin merchant from Cochin . He was the foremost among the Konkani merchants in Cochin (modern day Kochi in Kerala). As punishment for conspiring with
9512-654: The merger and maintained a rump National Party called the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party ( Purified National Party ). The Purified National Party used opposition to South African participation in World War II to stir up anti-British feelings amongst Afrikaners. This led to a reunification of the Purified Nationalists with the faction that had merged with the South African Party; together, they formed
9628-411: The most intense period of segregation and apartheid, "Indian", "Coloured" and " Malay " group identities controlled numerous aspects of daily life, including where a classified person was permitted to live and study. The "Indian" racial identity was created by both internal political movements that sought to consolidate support amongst the different Indian ethnicities in the face of discrimination; and
9744-524: The organisation unless South Africa were expelled. Verwoerd disregarded the censure, arguing that his Commonwealth cohorts had no right to question and criticise his country's domestic affairs. On this issue, he even had the support of his parliamentary opposition. Thus, on 15 March 1961, ostensibly to Britain an awkward decision and causing a split within the Commonwealth, but more likely to avoid further condemnation and embarrassment, Verwoerd withdrew his application and announced that South Africa would become
9860-619: The party won 126 out of the 170 seats in Parliament. By 1960, however, much of the South African electorate called for withdrawal from the Commonwealth and establishing South Africa as a republic. It was decided that a republican referendum was to be held in October. International circumstances made the referendum a growing necessity. In the aftermath of the World War II , former British colonies in Africa and Asia were gaining independence and publicising
9976-580: The population since 1961, Indians are still sometimes viewed as a foreign presence in the country, and find themselves having to justify their belonging to South Africa as a homeland. The modern South African Indian community is largely descended from Indians who arrived in South Africa from 1860 onwards. The first 342 of these came on board the Truro from Madras , followed by the Belvedere from Calcutta . They were transported as indentured labourers to work on
10092-432: The preservation of British links. There were numerous pro-republican arguments: There were also numerous arguments against the establishment of a republic: On 5 October 1960, 90.5% of the White electorate turned out to vote on the issue. 850,458 (52%) voted in favour of a republic, while 775,878 were against it. The Cape, Orange Free State and Transvaal were all in favour; Natal, a mainly English-speaking province,
10208-531: The pro-nationalist Whites of South-West Africa. The NP increased its parliamentary majority in almost every election between 1948 and 1977. Numerous segregation laws had been passed before the NP took power in 1948. Among the most significant were the 'Natives Land Act, No 27 of 1913', and the 'Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923'. The former made it illegal for Blacks to purchase or lease land from Whites except in reserves, which restricted Black occupancy to less than eight percent of South Africa's land. The latter laid
10324-431: The purposes of Employment Equity ; that is, they are classified as having been disadvantaged under apartheid. They are thus eligible for "affirmative action" and Black Economic Empowerment allocations. Following the end of apartheid, a new wave of South Asian immigration commenced from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, paralleling the movement of Africans from the diaspora and neighbouring African countries to
10440-464: The question of whether a republican South Africa should be inside or outside the Commonwealth. Strijdom, however, had the support of Verwoerd and Ben Schoeman , and he was eventually voted in as Prime Minister. Strijdom was a passionate and outspoken Afrikaner and republican who wholeheartedly supported apartheid. He was completely intolerant towards non-Afrikaners and liberal ideas, utterly determined to maintain White rule with zero compromise. Known as
10556-566: The races intended to maintain and extend political and economic control of South Africa by the White minority. The party's actions made South Africa for the most part a pariah state across the world. Apartheid was officially labelled a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. In 1959 the Bantu Self-Government Act established so-called Homelands (sometimes pejoratively called Bantustans ) for ten different Black tribes. The ultimate goal of
10672-415: The radical political movements elsewhere in Africa as vindication of his belief that White and Black nationalism could not work within the same system. Verwoerd also presented the NP as the party best equipped to deal with the widely perceived threat of communism. By the end of his term (caused by his assassination), Verwoerd had solidified the NP's domination of South African politics. In the 1966 elections
10788-546: The relinquishment of Commonwealth membership, for they regarded the Commonwealth as little more than the British Empire in disguise. They believed that South Africa and the United Kingdom had absolutely nothing in common, and even UP leader Sir De Villiers Graaff praised Verwoerd for his handling of the situation. On 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic. The date was a significant one in Afrikaner history, as it heralded
10904-454: The republic, united in their support of Verwoerd, the Blacks defiantly rejected the move. Nelson Mandela and his National Action Council demonstrated from 29 to 31 May 1961. The republican issue would strongly intensify resistance to apartheid. In October 1961, Verwoerd appointed the National Party's two first English-speaking ministers. The NP won most parliamentary seats in all elections during
11020-482: The ruling African National Congress . Amichand Rajbansi 's Minority Front (formerly the National People's Party ) retained some support in its strongholds. However, after Rajbansi's death in 2011, the party failed to win any seats in the national assembly following the 2014 general election. Indians who were citizens before 1994, and thus discriminated against by the apartheid system, are considered black for
11136-480: The segregation with stern penalties for non-Whites entering into areas designated for Whites-only without having a pass to permit them to do so (known as the pass laws ), interracial marriage and sexual relationships were illegal and punishable offences. Black people faced significant restrictions on property rights . After South Africa was condemned by the British Commonwealth for its policies of apartheid,
11252-470: The very popular African National Congress (ANC), which the government still viewed as a terrorist organisation). Those identified as Coloureds and Indian South Africans were granted separate legislatures in 1983 alongside the central legislature that represented Whites to provide them self-government while maintaining apartheid, but no such congress was supplied to the Black population as their self-government
11368-443: The wider group classified as Coloureds . Indians were prohibited by an 1891 statute from living in the Orange Free State , then an independent Boer Republic , and this led to the almost total absence of Indians from the area, a situation that persisted into the apartheid era. Efforts to encourage Indians to repatriate to India included financial incentives, as well as discriminatory treatment. In December 1926, and January 1927,
11484-469: The worldwide Desi subculture, however, South African Indians developed a distinctive musical and literary culture of their own, which was to some extent eclipsed by the global Bollywood/Desi culture in the 1990s and 2000s. There is also an increasing amount of interest in Turkish popular culture, by Muslims in particular. The slang term charou (various spellings) is often used by Indians, particularly in
11600-597: The years of apartheid. Indians in South Africa were (and sometimes still are) referred to by the racial epithet ' coolie '. In 1968, the South African Indian Council (not to be confused with the anti-apartheid South African Indian Congress which had the same initials) was created by the government, and in 1974, the council was reconstituted to allow for 50% of its members to be elected by Indians. The Council did not enjoy much support, for example, in 1981, only 6% of eligible voters participated in elections for
11716-582: Was a tripartite succession contest between Swart, Dönges and Verwoerd. The latter, devoted to the cause of a republican South Africa, was the new Prime Minister. Verwoerd, a former Minister of Native Affairs, played a leading role in the institution of the apartheid system. Under his leadership, the NP solidified its control over South African apartheid-era politics. To gain the support of the English-identified population of South Africa, Verwoerd appointed several English speakers to his cabinet. He also cited
11832-460: Was allowed to take place. Former indentured labourers who didn't return to India quickly established themselves as an important general labour force in Natal particularly as industrial and railway workers, with others engaging in market gardening , growing most of the vegetables consumed by the white population. Indians also became fishermen , and worked as clerks; in the postal service; and as court interpreters. The remaining Indian immigration
11948-512: Was defeated, it was successfully reintroduced in 1896. The South African Republic government first instituted discriminatory legislation against Indians in 1885, which led to protests from the British government , as the Indians were British subjects, and was used as one of the casus belli for the Second Boer War . Indians were banned from working in the mining industry, and areas were set aside for coolie locations in various towns in
12064-429: Was defeated. When the NP came to power in 1948 (making it the first all-Afrikaner cabinet since 1910), there were two uppermost priorities that it was determined to fulfil: Between 1948 and 1961, Prime Ministers D. F. Malan , J. G. Strijdom and Hendrik Verwoerd all worked very hard for the latter, implementing a battery of policies and changes in a bid to increase the country's autonomy. Divided loyalty, they felt,
12180-500: Was elected as president of the SAIC. In 1951, the ANC and SAIC jointly planned the 1952 Defiance Campaign , with the SAIC's Yusuf Dadoo and Yusuf Cachalia sitting on the planning council alongside the ANC's James Moroka , Walter Sisulu , and J. B. Marks . On the first day of the campaign on 26 June 1952, the ANC's Walter Sisulu and TIC president Nana Sita led the first group of Johannesburg volunteers to arrest in Boksburg . In 1955,
12296-618: Was finalised in April. It merged the authority of the British Crown and Governor-General into a new post, State President of South Africa . The State President would have relatively little political power, serving more as the ceremonial head of state. The political power was to lie with the Prime Minister (head of government). The Republic of South Africa would also have its monetary system, employing Rand and Cents. In March 1961, Verwoerd visited
12412-433: Was found by colonial authorities that local black Africans were economically self-sufficient, and thus unwilling to subject themselves to employment by colonial farmers, while other colonial authorities believed that the "hunting and warrior" African culture of the time was incompatible with a sudden shift to employed labour. The Mercury newspaper favoured the importation of labour, although other Natal newspapers were against
12528-476: Was from passenger Indians , comprising traders and others who migrated to South Africa shortly after the indentured labourers, paid for their own fares and travelled as British subjects . These immigrant Indians who became traders were from varying religious backgrounds, namely Hindu and Muslims but largely from Gujarat (including Memons and Surtis ), later joined by Konkanis , and Urdu speakers from Uttar Pradesh . The Muslims played an important part in
12644-573: Was holding South Africa back. They wanted to break the country's ties with the United Kingdom and establish a republic, and many South Africans grew confident that a republic was possible. Unfortunately for its republicans, the NP was not in a strong parliamentary position. Although it held a majority (only five) of seats, many of these were in rural constituencies, which had far fewer voters than urban constituencies. Malan appealed to many rural voters due to his agricultural policy, meaning black workers relied on white farmers for work, fuelling his quest for
12760-469: Was impossible for now for Malan and his ardently republican Nats to bring about a republic constitutionally. In the interim, the NP would have to consolidate itself and not antagonise the British. Many English speakers did not want to break their ties with the United Kingdom. However, in 1949, at the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in London (with Malan in attendance), India requested that, despite its newly attained republican status, it remain
12876-514: Was not. It was a narrow victory for the republicans. However, a considerable number of Afrikaners did vote against the measure. The few Blacks, Indians and Coloureds allowed to vote were decidedly against the measure. English speakers who voted for a republic had done so on the condition that their cultural heritage be safeguarded. Many had associated a republic with the survival of the White South Africans. Macmillan's speech illustrated that
12992-472: Was rooted in disagreements among South African Party politicians, particularly Prime Minister Louis Botha and his first Minister of Justice, J. B. M. Hertzog . After Hertzog began speaking out publicly against the Botha government's "one-stream" policy in 1912, Botha removed him from the cabinet. Hertzog and his followers in the Orange Free State province subsequently moved to establish the National Party to oppose
13108-463: Was strongly influenced by the NIC's founder, Mahatma Gandhi . Although the SAIC's members operated with a great deal of autonomy, the SAIC had a particularly important political role in the 1950s, when it represented the NIC and TIC in fostering more cooperative relations with the African National Congress . Pursuant to these efforts, the SAIC co-organised the Defiance Campaign and Congress of
13224-493: Was that the Indian minority could be allowed limited rights, but the Black majority were to become citizens of independent homelands . These separate arrangements were removed by the negotiations which took place from 1990 on to provide all South Africans with the vote. Many Indians played an important role in the anti-apartheid struggle and some occupied positions of power in post-apartheid South Africa. In post-apartheid South Africa , Indians have maintained prominent positions in
13340-489: Was to be provided through the Bantustans. The NP-led government began changing laws affected by the apartheid system that had come under heavy domestic and international condemnation, such as removing the pass laws, granting Blacks full property rights that ended previous significant restrictions on Black land ownership, and the right to form trade unions. Following escalating economic sanctions over apartheid, negotiations between
13456-641: Was ultimately revived in 1971 and the TIC in 1983, but the umbrella body was not formally revived. The provincial branches continued to work in partnership with each other, as well as independently and as affiliates of the United Democratic Front . Both the NIC and TIC again fell dormant after the end of apartheid in 1994, with most of their leading members joining the ANC. South African Indians Second languages Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during
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