A life of toil in the sugar fields
‘We never really thought of the hardships because our families needed the few extra cents we earned’
WHEN indentured labourers arrived in batches in the then-natal Colony from India since November 16, 1860 to about 1911, the majority were recruited by sugar cane farmers on the North and South coasts and around the Port of Durban. Some of the sugar farms the indentured labourers toiled on were at Darnall, Gledhow, Mtubatuba, Stanger, Doronkop, Melville, Felixton, Tongaat, Verulam, Ottawa, Blackburn, Mount Edgecombe, Shakaskraal, Inanda, Reunion, Isipingo, Illovo, Renishaw, Umzinto, Esperanza, Port Shepstone and Umzimkhulu.
Almost 160 years later, most of the descendants of the indentured labourers have migrated from the sugar estates to the urban areas of Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Shepstone, further afield and even abroad. Many of the old sugar estates are not in existence any longer. There are, however, many people who still work and live there.
Veteran political journalist and editor Marimuthu Subramoney (Subry Govender), who has worked for, among others, Radio Deutsche Welle, the BBC, Radio Netherlands, the Press Trust of India and, after liberation, the SABC, captured valuable oral histories over the past two decades. In this segment, Muniamma Perumal describes her life in the New Guelderland sugar estate, about 7km to the north of Kwadukuza.
“I worked and toiled in the sugar fields here for 36 years, following in the footsteps of my parents and my grandparents.”
A decade ago, Govender found Perumal sitting with some friends at a small settlement known as New Town, where just over 100 families had been provided with accommodation by the estate.
The two-room brick houses are clearly visible when one travels on the N2 just past Kwadukuza and when golfers drive to the Prince’s Grant Golf Course. The little village is inhabited mainly by those who have retired and a few employees of the sugar estate.
The village has a small temple and a church for the cultural and religious needs of the community.
“I was born in the sugar barracks near the old main road as were my three brothers and one sister,” said Perumal.
“At that time there were only about 200 families working and living in the sugar estate. I only went to school up to Standard 1 and, at the age of 12, I began working in the sugar fields.”
She recalled getting up very early in the morning to pack their lunch of mealie rice and dhal and then walk to the fields. Work was weeding and cleaning from 6am to 2pm.
“We were only given 10 minutes break at 10 o’clock and then at 12 o’clock we used to have lunch. It was hard work, but we never really thought of the hardships because our family needed the few extra cents that we earned. I used to get about 30c a day.”
Perumal said when she was 18, her parents arranged her marriage with someone from the same estate.
“After I got married, I continued to work in the fields.”
Perumal and her husband had four children – three boys and a girl – and, 10 grandchildren.
“We like this place because this is where we were born, grew up and lived all our lives. My grandparents, who came from India, and my parents also worked and lived here. But now we are worried because the Stewarts have sold most of the sugar estate for housing and other development.”
She said that they had been promised security and would be allowed to stay there as long as they lived. “I just hope that we will not have to be worry about a home during our old age.”
In the course of this research the authors plan to return to the estates to follow up on Govender’s initial interviews. THE #1860PROJECT focuses on deepening non-racialism and highlighting the contributions of diverse communities in the struggle for freedom.
will present weekly segments. The outcome will be a pictorial published by the 1860 Pioneers Foundation in 2020 to coincide with the 160th anniversary of the first Indian indenture. Feedback from readers, especially to identify persons or events depicted or to correct the record is encouraged on kirunaidoo1@gmail.com or Whatsapp 082 940 8163.