Living in harmony in Shallcross
Fifty community activists and residents will be honoured at the Shallcross Community Hall on Saturday to celebrate the suburb turning 50. Resident, Jerald Vedan takes a trip down memory lane.
AN URBAN legend has grown that Shallcross was named after a group of pioneers was confronted by the raging waters of the local river and, undeterred, proclaimed, “We shall cross”.
Actually, Shallcross is named after Annie Shallcross.
She was a member by marriage of the G North family, colonialists, who owned the farm on which Shallcross was developed as an apartheid dormitory township in 1966.
To mark the 50 years of existence of this vibrant area, the Shallcross Civic and Ratepayers Association (Scara), the Shallcross Youth Movement (Shayoma ) and the Shallcross Development Society are hosting a celebration at the local hall where 50 community activists and residents will be honoured.
Under the Group Areas Act of the apartheid government, people were uprooted from their homes in Seaview, Queensburgh, Pinetown, Riverside and Cato Manor and placed in box-like, uniformly designed homes of different configurations.
At the beginning of 1966, there were no tarred roads, telephones, postal deliveries, a sports field, a community hall, a library or a swimming pool.
All these amenities were agitated for and obtained by the Civic Association operational at that time with the assistance of the alert community.
Scout leader Morga Moodley, the first social worker, was a trail blazer in community work - especially with assisting indigent families.
He was the second occupant of a council home in Shallcross.
Other stalwarts in the community included the charismatic GG (Bob) Moodley, Juggie Moodley, AR Rasool, B Soohayee, T Premlal and women such as Doris Soman, Mrs Baroon, Anitha Singh and B Ramphal.
There are others from Shallcross who have emerged: the likes of Sivi Gounden (businessman), Dhaya Govender (director Small Harbours) and Professor Reshma Sookraj (UKZN).
Over the years the residents have improved their homes and today there is a mix of luxury homes, middle-income homes and simple homes.
Additional housing was built in Extension 1, Chiltern Heights, Buffels Bosch – privately and by the council.
However, Burlington Heights and Sun Park, together with Harinagar, became the more upmarket parts of Shallcross.
The residents of Shallcross were active in the liberation struggle in the 1970s and local organisations served as training grounds for activists in the anti-apartheid struggle.
The community waged a strenuous battle against the Development and Services Board, the then local authority, over high rates levied in the area in the ’80s and were instrumental in bringing together other DSB areas in KZN to form a united front to tackle the issue.
In the ’90s, a massive rates rebate was accorded to Shallcross and thereafter a more equitable rating ensued.
Many dignitaries have visited the community, including Kader Asmal, Patrick Lekota, Pravin Gordhan, Ahmed Kathrada and Fathima Meer.
The Shallcross schools are sought after and have produced top students over the years, notably Wingen Heights and Marklands Secondary High School and their feeder secondary schools.
Shallcross High, in the early days, featured in television programmes as a model high school.
On the sporting fields in Shallcross was the legendary wrestling icon Tiger Ellappen as well as famous soccer players who have played for Shallcross-based teams Mount Pilots, Sheffield United and Glenridge Blues.
The Ridge shopping centre is situated on the fringes of Shallcross.
In the old days people frequented the lively Gaysands Nightclub where a beauty competition called Miss Gaysands was held.
Also, Shallcross has the Joydeen and Everest Shopping Centre, and there is the Jamaica Shopping Centre and Markglows.
There are beautiful mosques, churches and Hindu temples.
The Shallcross Tamil Society has an attractive temple situated in Himalaya Drive.
The community is closely knit and the people are mostly kind hearted in nature and that’s what makes the area what it is – Shallcross.
There is a gentleness, simplicity and camaraderie among the people.
The 50th anniversary celebration was expected to be held in December but because of the pressures of the holiday season the date was postponed to this month.
The celebration event will take place at the Shallcross Community Hall on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm.
If you are looking for mindful living, devoid of the hustle and bustle of a busy life, in a relatively green environment, then Shallcross is the place to be.
According to B Ramphal, when he started living in Shallcross in the 1940s, it was just hills and valleys and animals roaming around.
The horse and cart were modes of transport.
For Ramphal, those were happy, care-free days.
However, he said that although there has been growth in the area, it still feels that in many ways the area is being neglected by the local authorities.
Guru Pillay, playwright and a long-standing resident of Shallcross, said that over the years there had been progress, but there was still a lot to be done.
Shallcross has its fair share of downs – there is a drug problem that is creeping into every community, as well as crime and complaints about the lack of maintenance in the area.
But the people shall stand united in an environment still more akin to a village than a very busy urban centre.
There are various groups trying to tackle the crime problem.
The pace of life is slower in the area and one must accept the “ups and down”.
Shallcross roads are mostly named after mountains because the terrain is rocky.
The face of the community has changed and is now composed of South Africans of diverse backgrounds, who live close together in relative peace and harmony.
At the 50th anniversary celebrations it is hoped that many pleasant memories will be shared. May Shallcross grow from strength to strength.
Jerald Vedan Attorney practising in Shallcross for 28 years, author, commissioner in the CCMA, chairman of the Shallcross
Civic and Ratepayers Association and Executive member of the KZN Inter
Religious Council.