Construction of 1860 Indian monument to begin

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05-03-2025
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The Witness
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The construction of the monument was initially delayed due to disagreements within the community over its design.

KwaZulu-Natal Sports, Arts, and Culture MEC Mntomuhle Khawula will lead a sod-turning ceremony next week in Durban for the 1860 Indian Monument, which will commemorate the arrival of indentured labourers to the province.

The construction of the monument was initially delayed due to disagreements within the community over its design.

The original design included a “slave” bell to highlight the ill-treatment of the indentured Indian labourers by sugarcane farm owners, who used the bell, among other things, to signal the start of the workday for the labourers.

However, some members of the Indian community felt that including the bell in the monument was demeaning.

Following a consultative meeting convened by the department late last month, the community reached an agreement to remove the contentious bell from the final design.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture can confirm that it successfully convened a meeting among stakeholders and that the parties present agreed on the revised proposal.

“To this end, all interested parties representing the Indian community unanimously agreed on a historic design for the monument that will, in a dignified manner, depict the historic moment when Indians arrived in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, aboard a ship.

“The agreed-upon design will depict a male sugarcane cutter, a female sugarcane cutter carrying a child on her back, and a bale of sugarcane.

“It is worth mentioning that all matters related to the design and site access for erecting the monument have been resolved and finalised,” said department spokesperson Ntando Mnyandu.

Key community figures who spoke to The Witness confirmed unanimous support for the amended design.

Ishwar Ramlutchman, one of the founding members of the 1860 Indian Indentured Labourers Monument Planning Committee established in 2010, described last month’s consultative meeting as a “major success”.

After advocating for the dignified recognition of the Indentured Indian labourers, we are proud to have finally achieved our goal. We are happy that there is now a consensus on the issue of the design of the monument.

Thanasagren Moodley, a KZN Provincial Legislature independent MPL candidate in last year’s general elections and now the leader of a political party called the 1860 NIC Congress, expressed concern that a significant number of Indians did not receive invitations to last month’s consultative meeting. However, he endorsed the outcome of the gathering.

“Nevertheless, we attended the meeting and supported the proposed changes. Our position is that it remains the responsibility of the KZN Department of Arts and Culture to keep the public informed about the monument’s progress,” he said.

Selvan Naidoo, director and curator at the 1860 Heritage Centre, said the consultations were extensive.

“The meeting was chaired by Dr Thobile Sifunda, head of the KZN Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture, and was attended by various stakeholders, including civic and religious organisations, political parties, and community activists.

“After a heated debate, a vote by show of hands determined that the bell would not be included in the design,” he said.

The monument will mark the year of the SS Truro vessel’s arrival from Madras (now Chennai), India, carrying Indian workers who were brought by the then-government of the Natal colony to work in the colony’s sugarcane fields.