Some New Perspectives on South African Indians and ‘Non-Racialism’:
Findings from the AKF Non-Racialism Focus Group Data

Abstract

A significant finding from the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation/Gauteng City-Region Observatory non-racialism focus group data is the prevalence of negative attitudes expressed toward Indian South Africans. Using the data as a valuable analytic window into the complex race, class, ethnicity and gender politics that characterise post-apartheid South Africa, this article reflects on the implications of strong anti-Indian sentiments in post-apartheid South Africa. The article critically reflects on the historically configured identity or identities of Indian South Africans in relation to the project of ‘non-racialism’.

Notes

South African democracy is now 17 years old. It can be argued that South African democracy is no longer ‘new’. However, ‘new’ South Africa remains a popular descriptor for a politically transformed (and transforming) country.

Ubuntu is an African philosophy of humanism which refers to life-affirming relationships and allegiances amongst people and communities. The translation of Ubuntu is said to be ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’.

Neville Alexander (2006) has argued persuasively against using racial categories of the apartheid past in order to undertake affirmative action policies. His proposal for a more rigorous targeting of beneficiaries through class or income status, given the relationship between race and class, is outlined in a lecture delivered in 2006 at the University of Fort Hare entitled Racial Identity, Citizenship and Nation Building in Post-Apartheid South Africa.

The African Renaissance refers to an Africanist-inspired political philosophy which was popularised by former President Mbeki. It is seen as a call to Africa to overcome the challenges confronting the continent to work toward what has been seen as a political, cultural and moral ‘rebirth’.

In 2011 ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was formally charged with hate speech for singing the controversial South African struggle song ‘Dubul'ibhunu (translated to ‘shoot the boer’). Malema denied that he was a racist and claimed that he belonged to an organisation, the African National Congress (ANC), which subscribed to non-racialism. He was found guilty of hate speech. He continues to occupy a controversial place in South African public and political life.

The term ‘rainbow nation’ was originally coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to capture the vision of a non-racial post-apartheid South Africa capable of transcending its racialised past.

Indians in South Africa are predominantly concentrated in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, having arrived there primarily as indentured labourers between 1860 and 1911, with smaller numbers of ‘passenger’ immigrants entering later between 1860 and 1890. This is said to be the largest concentration of Indians outside of India.

Intra-group Indian identities remain an intriguing subject on which little literature is available. Beyond the seminal work of Ebrahim-Vally's work Kala Pani: Caste and Colour in South Africa, there is scope for further research in this area.

Blalock's influential conception of ‘middle-man minorities’ (1967) is one of the most important theories of race and ethnic relations, signifying the particular position that certain minority groups may be accorded in different social systems.

Race under apartheid was never a stable category and was continually reformed using a mixture of scientific and cultural racism, in order to maintain and consolidate white power and control.

Charou is a popular South African colloquialism used to refer to both male and female Indian South Africans. The word is derived from the Afrikaans words ‘char’ for brown (or burnt) and ‘ou’ meaning male.

The University of Durban Westville was originally created as an apartheid institution intended to provide racially segregated education for Indian South Africans. It was funded in equal part by the apartheid state and contributions from the Indian South African community.

‘Bollywood’ is an informal term used to refer to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry, one of the largest centres of film production in the world.

Of course this is to establish that racialised language is universal. Such language is also modifiable in different contexts. For example, the discursive counterpart in the United States for the racially offensive term ‘coconut’ is ‘Oreo cookie’, used as racial slang to denote an ethnic minority turning against their roots or betraying their race or culture.

The outbreak of violence against African nationals which took place in May 2008 was largely configured by a discourse of belonging to the South African state. Victims of the violence were singled out by perpetrators on the basis of such variables as skin colour, vaccination marks, pronunciation of certain words and understanding of local dialect, in order to test their authenticity as South Africans. See Nyar, A. (2010) ‘”What Happened?”A Narrative of the May 2008 Xenophobic Violence’, a research project commissioned by Atlantic Philanthropy on South African Civil Society and Xenophobia, available at http://www.gcro.ac.za.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Annsilla Nyar

Senior Researcher, Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), a partnership between the University of Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government.