By Subry Govender FIRST GENERATION DESCENDANT OF INDENTURED LABOURERS FROM NORTH ARCOTT DISTRICT CELEBRATES 100TH BIRTHDAY IN SOUTH AFRICA

A first generation descendant of indentured labourers from North Arcott in Tamil Nadu, who has worked most of her life on the sugar cane fields on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, turned 100 on May 6. Mrs Gengamma Subramoney, whose parents arrived from a village in the North Arcott District of Tamil Nadu in the late 1890s, was born on May 6 1917 at the Hullets Sugar Estate in the town of Kearsney on the North Coast of the then Natal Colony ruled by the British. Her parents, Seelan Subbiah and Ganamma, were indentured at the Hullets Sugar Estate. Two other siblings, Mariamah, and S P Naidoo, were also born at Kearnsey. The eldest sibling, Gurumah, was born in Tamil Nadu and was brought to the then Natal Colony by her indentured parents. After Gengamma’s parents completed their first term as indentured labourers they moved to the nearby Tongaat Sugar Estate. Here her parents and all the children toiled in the fields as labourers.

(GENGAMMA WITH HER LATE HUSBAND, SUBRAMONEY GOVENDER) When the children reached 10 years and older, they were forced to toil in the cane fields as labourers. They earned as low as one (British) pound per month and lived in very poor conditions. While the parents worked in the sugar mill, the children worked in the cane fields as labourers. As the children grew up, their parents taught them a lot about their Tamil culture and traditions. From this knowledge, the children helped to build temples in the towns of Tongaat and Mt Edgecombe, north of the city of Durban. When the children were between the ages of 18 and 21, the parents moved to another estate in a place called Spitzkop, near Tongaat. Gurumah, the eldest daughter, had an arranged marriage to a first generation descendent of indentured labourers and moved to the Tongaat Sugar Estate. When Gengamma turned 21, arrangements were made for Gengamma to marry Subramoney Govender, also a first generation descendent of indentured labourers. Here too, Gengamma joined her husband to work in the sugar cane fields, planted paddy rice, vegetables and sugar cane. Despite the hardships and tough conditions, Gengamma and her husband, pursued with their lives and had ten children. Her sister Mariamah had four children and moved away to an area called Malacca Road in Redhill, near Durban. Her brother, S P Naidoo, had four children and lived side by side with his father, mother and sister.

One of Gengamma’s sons, Mr Kista Govender, who now lives in Red Hill, near Durban, recalled that life was very tough for his parents and the children. “My mother endured many hardships, especially with the upbringing of the children. “We had to walk 20km a day to get to school and she used to worry about our safety. As a mother she also had to carry water in buckets for about 2km just to ensure that we were comfortable and had food,” he said. He said he had recollections of the 1949 riots and how his mother took precautions to ensure that all of them were safe. “During the riots, I was about three-years-old and can remember how my mother grabbed the children late at night and ran into the bushes for safety. “In about 1959, we had to move to another Sugar Estate in an area called Kranskloof. After we became teenagers, we got married and moved out to settle in and around Tongaat, Durban and Johannesburg.”

He said his grand-father died at the age of 120 and his grand-mother at age 60. “Of the first generation family members, only my mother is alive today, celebrating her 100th birthday.” Most of Gengamma’s sons are still involved in farming on the North Coast. Two of the sons live in the rural area of Isenembe, one in the town of Shakakraal, and one in Tongaat. One son lives in the township of Phoenix, near Durban, and one sister resides in Johannesburg. One of the sisters lives with Gengamma in Isenembe. While farming has been in the blood of the Gengamma family, most of her grand-children and great-grand-children have migrated to other fields such as Information Technology, electronics, education, mechanical, entrepreneurship, insurance and logistics. Gengamma has visited Tamil Nadu in order to connect with her roots but she was not successful in making any contacts with the family of her parents.

“After being away from my grand-parents roots in North Arcott, my mother found it very difficult to locate any one related to us,” said Mr Govender. She has also visited Bangkok, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai, and Mauritius. In South Africa she has visited Cape Town. Despite losing her parents, husband, two of her children, 3 daughters-in-law and two grandchildren, Gengamma at the age of 100 is still going strong. Mr Govender said the family members wanted to salute their mother for being such an inspiration to the family, friends, temple members and children. “Hard work, positivity, strength and wisdom have been her recipe for a long life. Most importantly, her days as a labourer and working on the fields have kept her strong and healthy. Her dedication, commitment and faith in prayer have seen her through her difficult times, especially dealing with death of loved ones.” “Our mother has taught us to respect and pray before you start the day. She has sacrificed all her life for us and we believe that we have to express our gratitude to our mother for all she had done for the family. She bore her hardships without any complaints and went the extra mile to ensure that all her children went to school and progressed in life,” said Mr Govender. “Up to this day, she is able to do washing, cooking and cleaning with ease. Her favourite food is calabash and sour herbs. She makes the best fish curry.” In order to honour their matriarch, a 100th birthday celebration was organized by her eight surviving children, 28 grand-children and 30 great-grand-children at the Tongaat Town Hall on May 21. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com