"Indians or not" in South Africa

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)


The position of South Africans of Indian origin came up once again recently when Julius Malema as leader of the ANC Youth League made a derogatory remark against the community while addressing a meeting near Lenasia in Johannesburg.
It's not known what his exact words were when he addressed some residents of Tembalihle but he was reported as saying that their children should also go to school with the children of the "amakulas".
The "amakula" term is generally seen as a swear word in the same vein as "kaffir" and "coolie". These were terms used during the days of apartheid to describe African and Indian people in a disparaging manner.
Malema has since been suspended for five years by an ANC Disciplinary Committee for bringing the ANC into disrepute on issues completely different to the "slur" against people of Indian origin.
He has apologised for making the "amakula" remark and has also held a private discussion with the South African Minority Equality Movement in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, November 15. He issued another apology during this meeting.
The SAMEM had laid a charge against Malema and the two groups had met in an attempt to resolve the matter.
The Malema "slur" follows in the wake of a statement by Chief Government spokesperson, Jimmy Manyi, that "Indian" people work their way to the top through what he implied "bribery and other malpractices".
The latest development around Malema also comes at a time when many young people of Indian origin have complained of being marginalised in semi-state industrial institutions such as Escom and Transnet. Many of them have stated that because of the policy of "affirmative action" and demographics they are being discriminated and robbed of being selected for jobs in government departments and semi-state institutions.
The tragedy of the debate around Malema now is that the print and electronic media, especially radio, have reported about the controversy without really identifying who are South Africans and who are "Indians".
The national radio station, SAFM, for instance repeatedly used the word "Indians" in its reports and then in what was seen as a rectification, on a few occasions on Wednesday, November 16 referred to the community as "people of Indian origin". But sadly the news reader in later bulletins once again used the term "Indians".
The first reaction of those who participated in the struggles against apartheid and oppression is that it seems that certain members of the media have failed to play a developmental and educational role even 17 years after the advent of our new non-racial democracy. There seems to be very little political awareness among some journalists and news readers of the political background and the new non-racial situation.
It must be pointed out that more than 150 years after the arrival of Indian indentured labourers to South Africa in 1860, their descendants are now an integral part of the new South Africa and are not "Indians". While they strongly and proudly practice and promote their cultures, traditions, languages and religions, they are South Africans first and foremost who should be described as people of "Indian origin".
They are not "Indians". Indians are in India and those Indians who are in South Africa are Indian nationals who are here on business or contracted to work on special visas. They came to South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and after India and South Africa formally established diplomatic links in the aftermath of the election of our new non-racial government.
After contributing and sacrificing significantly to the creation of our new non-racial and democratic South Africa, no community, let alone people of "Indian origin", should be made to feel that they are "outsiders".
Statements by the likes of the Malemas and the Jimmy Manyis were responsible for genocides in many countries around the world, including Rwanda, where more than a million people were slaughtered in the civil war between the Hutus and the Tsutsis.
There was also turmoil in Uganda where Idi Amin conducted a war of terror against "Indians" and was responsible for the flight of Ugandan "Indians" to England, Canada, United States and other parts of the world.
The likes of the Malemas and Jimmy Manyis must understand (they say that they are politically mature and aware) that people of "Indian" origin, like other citizens, are full South Africans and should be accorded, according to our new non-racial and democratic constitution, full rights without any special privileges.
They are not "Indians". Indians are in India. ends -
(Marimuthu Subramoney (aka Subry Govender) is a retired radio and print journalist who is now spearheading the launch of the community radio station, Southside FM Radio.)