Indians suffered with Africans
WHEN I recently read a report on the findings by two economists who concluded that Indians had benefited from apartheid, I was deeply hurt and dismayed.
It triggered uncomfortable thoughts and emotions of our lives during apartheid, memories that have been, until now, been stored away safely in the back of my mind.
As a proud and patriotic South African Indian, and fellow-victim (like millions of other non-white South Africans) of apartheid, I felt let down by the fact that despite it being 2016, economist Prof Bonke Dumisa would assert that Indians were “less oppressed” and, after 1994, “more advantaged than other race groups”.
The second economist, Dawie Roodt, also concluded that there were “no grounds for making Indians beneficiaries of black economic empowerment policies”.
With my anger in check, I looked at the empirical findings of the report. What is most irksome is that despite whites still topping the list in terms of comparative per capita income for the different races, the economists chose to single out and highlight Indians in that they (Indians) displayed the fastest growth in per capita income since 1994, shrewdly associating the improved earning statistics in post-apartheid South Africa with Indians being “less oppressed”.
Such trivialisation of the underlying reasons for the data obtained points to the economists using what scientists call “priori justification”: one that is independent of “experience”; in this case, of the myriad reasons that may account for the supposed growth in per capita income of Indians.
In simple terms, the intimation is that all Indians “had it soft” during apartheid, and even more so, since the fall of apartheid. This could not be further from the truth.
A more valid analysis could have considered the underlying reasons, of which there are many. So what are these unconsidered “experiences”, which I have alluded to?
Is there a remote possibility, dear “Economist Sirs”, that there may permeate, among the Indians, across all the social classes, some unique zest and spirit, some underlying traits that may have contributed to their upward mobility?
The issue here is a skewed knowledge or simplistic interpretation of the history of Indians in South Africa. Sadly, the dearth of records of the trials and tribulations of Indians and their humble accomplishments may be a reason for this view. Granted, there may be a handful of Indian “tenderpreneurs” who have gained unfairly and tarnished our image, further contributing to this view.
Such divisive economic utterances, and in the case of Roodt, what I see as downright irrelevant earning comparisons, comparing the earnings of Indians in India with those of Indians in South Africa, makes me wonder about the intentions of such research.
Is this guy serious? What next? Compare the earning power of Zimbabwean-born whites with a Scottish ancestry with Scottish nationals? And what kind of conclusion would he come to in that case?
Deplorable! Yet such malicious “research findings” could undermine the perception of Indians by African people in particular, despite our rich history of standing alongside icons like the Mandelas and Tambos during the fight for freedom.
It is tantamount to desecrating the memory and role of every one of those Indian political stalwarts from the freedom struggle, too many to name here: some of them sent to Robben Island, some forced into exile, some forming the sanctum sanctorum of the struggle movement, and many making the ultimate sacrifice by giving up their lives.
The danger of painting all Indians with one brush, as beneficiaries of apartheid, is it could have a detrimental effect on race relations going forward. This has come at a sensitive time in our history, where the slightest rhetoric in relation to race issues, of which there have been many in the last year or so, is often followed by a flood of reaction by the broader public via the mainstream media or social media.
What hurt most for me were the memories of my childhood, having grown up on a sugar cane farm in Inanda in the 1960s and 1970s, having been witness to the harshness and hardships of a rural lifestyle.
“Tough times” or “acute economic disadvantage” are some of the descriptors I would use to reflect on our lives back then. It was the same for most other Indians I know.
The reaction from every one of them over the past week has been one of disappointment, especially in the way the economists’ findings were reported on in some newspapers.
I find it difficult to reconcile the fact that “learned academics” would not have known that by publishing such toxic findings, emotions would be stirred.
One wonders whether the timing of the report, just after the municipal elections, was a strategic one?
Whatever the reason, these findings have also besmirched the legacy of every one of our forebears, those who tilled the soil and toiled in the heat for want of a better life for their succeeding generations, from Port Shepstone on the South Coast of KZN, through Inanda, Verulam, Tongaat, Stanger, to Empangeni on the North Coast; to those who worked the coal and diamond mines in the interior of the country; to those who lived in the casbah in Durban; to those who lived in the various barracks; to those who helped build the railway lines; to those who ventured into business – every one of our people who had to overcome the strictures of a post-indentured prejudiced existence prior to the advent of apartheid in 1948, only to have that prejudice exacerbated by apartheid legislation in 1948, with the pain and trauma of forced removals from their homes due to the group areas act and subsequently, after the advent of democracy in 1994, a new government that, via affirmative action, has placed Indians firmly behind their African brothers in every sphere of life.
Yet from humble beginnings, like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes, have risen so many success stories. In the 156 years since our arrival here, that driving spirit of seeking to improve our lot in life, that of wanting to unshackle the chains of poverty, saw Indians make education the cornerstone of their endeavour.
There are so many examples of how the poorest Indian parents would sacrifice just about everything, even their plate of food, in order to ensure that their children could access a good education.
Across the length and breadth of our country are numerous examples of communities that, despite having had limited financial resources, would unite and contribute towards the building of schools for their children.
The same can be said for my family, who like so many others in different areas where Indians had settled, would make education their priority and contribute to building schools. The schools were community driven. We are indeed grateful to those selfless school grantees, who ensured that schools delivered quality education. So it comes as no surprise that from these communities have emerged the doctors, the lawyers, the captains of industry, the engineers, the teachers, the artisans and so many others from different vocations, all of whom form the backbone of regional economies across our country. All those people who have been maligned by this economic report.
The notion however, that all Indians are well off, that they all drive fancy cars and that they all have plush homes, is misguided and misleading. The largest concentration of Indians is to be found in residential townships, and there is ample evidence to suggest that after 1994, the level of poverty and unemployment in these areas has spiralled out of control. Most find it difficult to eke out a living and to cope with the subsequent social ills that go hand-in-hand with these dire economic circumstances.
Such socio-economic challenges – a common thread across all South African communities – will not go away easily, and will continue to be stumbling blocks to youth economic empowerment.
I believe that 22 years into our democracy, sadly, despite the attempts of these “erstwhile economists” to sow divisions, we should recognise that there are deep-seated racial issues that need to be unpacked in South Africa.
These divisions caused by our past history, can and shall be mended.
We will not allow these few bumps on our journey to prevent us from embracing one another, to ensure a harmonious co-existence – one that we will be proud to leave behind for generations to come. Rubendra Govender is the author of the best-selling novels Sugar Cane Boy and The English Major’s Daughter. He is a judge of the MAHLA Literary Awards, an educator and a social commentator.