Top South African leader lauds Indian-origin community

A top South African leader has lauded the contribution of Indian-origin population in the country and said the community has played a vital role in the nation's freedom struggle.

Addressing an event of the South African Tamil Federation here, the premier of the Gauteng Province, David Makhura, said South Africans of Indian descent have played a key role in the country's resistance movements in different eras.

Right from our fight against colonialism and apartheid to the fight against corruption in present times, the Indian-origin community has always supported us, he said.

Gauteng, the economic hub of South Africa, has 1.4 million South Africans of Indian origin.

The first Indians arrived during the Dutch colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. In the second half of the 19th Century, Indians came to South Africa in two categories -- as indentured workers in 1860 and later as 'free' or 'passenger' Indians.

Noting the contribution of Thambi Naidoo and child martyr Valliamma Moodliar, who had joined Gandhiji in his fight against apartheid and colonialism in South Africa, Makhura said "Mahatma Gandhi learnt the concept of 'Satyagraha' here."