OPINION: I remain a daughter of the soil first

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I AM usually criticised when I shrug off the label “Indian” and insist I be referred to as South African. Shrieks of “but you’re Indian, don’t deny your roots” are often the comeback. But I’m digging my heels in. I am South African and increasingly frustrated at being pigeonholed by the “Indian” label. Like my parents, I was born in South Africa and have never been to India, never maintained any links to my ancestral roots and my upbringing is deeply entrenched in South Africa - I rarely enjoy Indian food, if we must go there. I was actively involved in student politics and politically schooled and mentored by the late Zwelakhe Sisulu - son of founding ANC leader Walter Sisulu. I am the proud daughter of South Africa, not India. My struggle to claim my South African-ness is not unique. The increasing racial divide and the Gupta scandal have cast a shadow on every South African of Indian descent. They have reignited memories of past conflicts between Africans and so-called Indians in KwaZulu-Natal.

Beyond that, they have also isolated Indian South Africans and left many in government fighting for political survival. Any support of them is met with political heckling from the likes of the EFF, a party increasingly hell-bent on adopting apartheid-style tactics in KZN to drum-up support through its racial divide-and-rule methods of operation.

Playing the “Indian” card - resurrecting past racial conflict - and referring to all Indian South Africans as “a Gupta” has made it increasingly difficult for many to be proud of their Indian roots and proudly South African. And, while I choose to be proudly South African, there is nothing wrong with those who choose to be proudly Indian South African.

Except, there is now a shame in taking pride in their Indian heritage. South Africans of Indian descent are often simply referred to as “Indian”, as if they have nothing to do with South Africa.

It has become a badge of shame for many, made derogatory by the actions of those who simply used South Africa as a platform for their economic windfall.

Their actions are a far cry from those of us who are proudly South African and regard this as our birth country. The Guptas plundered and left, leaving all Indian South Africans tainted with the same brush.

As one senior ANC politician told me, “we are never considered South African. We are just Indian, no matter how much we give to this country or how hard we fought in the struggle. We will always be regarded as Indian.”

As long as the voices of Indian South Africans remain mute in their patriotism, the EFF and other racists will continue to entrench the derogatory name calling and attempt to strip South African Indians of their patriotism.

We need to fight that by reclaiming the right to be called South African. I choose my label. I am not Indian. My roots are here. My ancestors may have been from India, but my roots and that of my parents are here. This is my birth country and I am proudly South African.

Eating a curry now and then does not make me Indian, as much as eating a pizza would not make me Italian. Being the offspring of an indentured or passenger Indian does not make me less South African and why should I be forced to reduce my South African identity which I hold so dear, because of that?

A friend was recently denied a senior position at a private firm. Not because she failed to qualify, but simply because the position had to be given to an African female - less qualified.

My friend has worked her way up to earn the position, but will never be considered because she is “Indian” and the company does not want an Indian. That is the price being paid for being Indian-South African.

As a mother of two teenage boys, and a partner who is Turkish, I fought a battle when their school opted to label them after I refused to tick the “race” box on their entry form - going back 10 years.

The school decided to label them - unbeknown to me, until I received another form to be signed. One of my sons was labelled “Indian” and the other “white”.

On challenging the school, I was told by an exasperated official “look at him, he is white” - referring to one of my sons. Needless to say, they very quickly backtracked after I threatened to take legal action.

One can understand - and I agree - that apartheid did place Indian South Africans in a better position, with more benefits, despite the laws which disenfranchised them.

They were more advantaged, less repressed and afforded more privilege, allowing them better education, housing and social status.

Redressing the imbalances of the apartheid legacy should not be at the exclusion of our patriotism as South Africans. We are South Africans first and should unite under that common umbrella.

Redressing past inequalities should not be done at the expense of exclusion, name-calling and isolation. Doing so is not what the struggle for an equal South Africa was about.

It is not the vision many fought and died for. For those of us born and raised here, we are South African - regardless of our ancestral roots. It is a right we must uphold and fight for, despite attempts to divide us.

I am proudly South African and will continue to claim my label. Don’t call me Indian.

* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media