Statement Submitted by the Natal Indian Organisation to the Judicial Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Durban Riots

Sub title : Official submission to the Chairman and members of the Judicial Commission investigating the Durban riots

Subject: Durban riots 1949 | Natal Indian Organisation | Indian South Africans | Racial relations | Economic history

Date of publication: 1949

Language: English

Page: 25 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 28865

Keyword: Natal Indian Organisation -- Durban riots 1949 -- Judicial Commission -- Indian South Africans | Indentured labour -- Sugar industry -- Land holdings -- Population statistics -- Employment discrimination | Trading licences -- African-Indian relations -- Shanty towns -- Fagan Report -- Cato Manor -- Durban.

Abstract: This document is a formal statement submitted by the Natal Indian Organisation (founded 4 May 1947) to the Judicial Commission appointed to enquire into the Durban riots of January 13–15, 1949. The submission outlines the Organisation’s objectives of promoting Indian rights and fostering inter‑racial harmony. It provides historical context, noting that Indian indentured labourers were introduced to Natal in 1860 to save the sugar industry from ruin, and that Indian labour was indispensable for railways, coal mines, and municipal works. The statement includes population figures (1946 census) showing Indians as 2.5% of South Africa’s total population, and land‑holding data indicating that Indians owned only 150,000 acres out of Natal’s 18 million acres, compared to 14.8 million acres owned by Europeans and the state.

Description: This document is a historical statement submitted by the Natal Indian Organisation to the judicial commission investigating the 1949 Durban riots. It presents a detailed defence of the Indian community’s role in South Africa’s economic development, emphasising their contributions as indentured labourers, market gardeners, traders, and transport operators. The submission argues that the prosperity of Natal was built on Indian labour, and that Indians were not a threat to African advancement. It provides statistical evidence to counter allegations of land grabbing and job competition, and highlights the discrimination Indians faced in employment and trade licensing. The statement also explains that African influx into urban areas was a result of industrial expansion and inadequate municipal housing, and that Indian landowners provided shelter out of compassion. The document reflects the complex racial and economic tensions in mid‑20th‑century South Africa and the efforts of the Indian community to assert their legitimate place in the country’s multi‑racial society. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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