SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN-ORIGIN - STATE OF UNCERTAINITY 25 YEARS INTO THE NEW "DEMOCRATIC AND NON-RACIAL SOUTH AFRICA".

"SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN HERITAGE SOCIETY" AT A TIME WHEN SOUTH AFRICA IS PREPARING FOR THE SIXTH DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS SINCE THE FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN 1994, MANY, MANY , MANY SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN-ORIGIN ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT WHO TO VOTE FOR. THIS DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE PEOPLE OF INDIAN-ORIGIN HAD PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM IN SOUTH AFRICA. UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS, THE TRANSVAAL INDIAN CONGRESS AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN CONGRESS, THE MASSES OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIAN-ORIGIN WORKED WITH THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, THE COMMUNIST PARTY AND OTHER DEMOCRATIC ORGANISATIONS TO BRING ABOUT A NEW NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA IN APRIL 1994. BUT TODAY, 25 YEARS AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR NEW DEMOCRACY, MANY MANY MANY OF THE PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT NONE OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES, INCLUDING THE ANC, DO NOT PROVIDE THEM WITH HOPE AND CONFIDENCE. THIS DESPITE THE FACT THAT IN 1994 THE ANC HAD REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS THAT THE ANC WOULD BE THE HOME OF ALL THE PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE PEOPLE OF INDIAN-ORIGIN. IN VIEW OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS WAS ALLOWED TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SCENE WITHOUT ACTUALLY BEING DISBANDED.

NOW WHEN SOUTH AFRICA IS PREPARING FOR THE ELECTIONS, THERE HAVE BEEN CALLS FOR THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS TO BE REVIVED AS A VOICE OF THE PEOPLE. BUT MANY OF THE VETERAN LEADERS HAVE NOT TAKEN UP THE PLEAS OF THE PEOPLE. IN VIEW OF THIS, A NEW GROUP, CALLED THE "SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN HERITAGE SOCIETY" IS BEING INITIATED AS A LOBBY GROUP FOR THE PEOPLE OF INDIAN-ORIGIN. MANY OF THE ACTIVISTS WHO ARE BEHIND THIS NEW INITIATIVE ARE BASED IN PRETORIA, JOHANNESBURG, DURBAN, CHATSWORTH AND PHOENIX. IN A MEMO TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE THE ACTIVISTS SAY THEIR AIM IS: "OUR AIM IS TO CREATE A PLATFORM FOR COLLECTIVELY QUALIFYING THE GRIEVANCES OF SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN-ORIGIN AND ACT AS A SINGLE VOICE TO ADDRESS THESE GRIEVANCES ON A POLITICAL PLATFORM. "WE INTEND TO DRIVE THE COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY NEEDS AHEAD OF PERSONAL POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS AND GOALS, THEREBY PROVIDING A PLATFORM FOR THE MINORITY INDIAN COMMUNITY."

IN VIEW OF THIS LATEST MOVE BY SOME OF THE CONCERNED PEOPLE, I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH THIS RADIO DOCUMENTARY THAT I COMPILED IN 2008 AT A TIME WHEN THE RULING ANC WAS PREPARING FOR ITS NATIONAL ELECTIVE CONFERENCE IN POLOKWANE, NORTH OF PRETORIA. IT WAS AT THIS CONFERENCE THAT PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI WAS THROWN OUT OF OFFICE AND JACOB ZUMA WAS ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF THE ANC AND LATER AS PRESIDENT OF THE COUNTRY. ZUMA WAS OUSTED JUST OVER A YEAR AGO AFTER MANY OF THE ANC LEADERS REBELLED AGAINST HIM. THIS RADIO FEATURE WILL PROVIDE CONTENT TO THE SITUATION IN WHICH PEOPLE OF INDIAN-ORIGIN FIND THEMSELVES TODAY. THE PEOPLE SAY THEY DON'T HAVE LEADERS OF THE CALIBRE OF DR YUSUF DADOO, DR MONTY NAICKER, DR KESAVAL GOONUM, PROFESSOR FATIMA MEER, ISMAIL MEER AND OTHER LEADERS WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES FROM THE EARLY 1930s TO THE 1990s.