Madam Chairperson, hon members, this year we should all be celebrating the contribution of the Indian community to South African life. 2010 is the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indian indentured labourers in 1860.
According to research, some 152 000 people of Indian origin settled mainly in what is now KwaZulu-Natal, many as indentured labourers, others as free settlers, traders, artisans and farmers.
The subsequent discriminatory treatment and legislation lumped all the descendants of these immigrants together as one single racial category of Indians.
Research has shown that the diversity of these immigrants is an important part of their story. Hon Singh, I'm sure you will learn something. There were regional and language differences, for instance, between the Northern Hindi speakers and the Southern Tamil or Telugu speakers, which differences were themselves overlain by differences in religion with Hindu, Muslim and Christian adherents.
The very economic success of these Indian settlers in liberating themselves from indentured servitude and poverty played a part in the subsequent racialised conflict in KwaZulu-Natal. The competition for land and trading opportunities that led to the imposition of the now notorious Group Areas Act had a huge and destructive effect on Indian communities and the psychological scars are still felt today.
If we are going to be a just and caring society we need to acknowledge this. Their story of disposition and removal is one that needs to be recorded and respected if we are to truly demonstrate a respect for our heritage. The oral history of individuals and communities need to be captured as part of our cultural heritage as a nation and to heal the hurts of the past.
The story of loss and alienation is not the full story of that community either. Their contribution to the political, economic and religious life of this country has been enormous. The struggle for democracy and the adoption of the 1996 Constitution would have been very different had it not been for the values of respect for persons in law, tolerance and the sanctity of life which the Hindu and Muslim spiritual traditions both emphasised.
To promote a democratic respect for heritage also means ensuring the availability and accessibility of cultural artefact. We are learning rapidly, for example, that cultural heritage is not only a democratic obligation and part of a tradition preserving the legacy of the past, but it is also big business.
The interest in cultural heritage translates into a growing market for heritage tourism. To provide access to our different cultural traditions is the challenge for our heritage managers. Within my own constituency of Pietermaritzburg, there is a modestly-sized municipal art gallery, the Tatham. The handful of staff have embarked on a project to place its entire catalogued art collection on the internet. Nearly half of the whole collection, some 600 works, have over a period of six years now been photographed and digitalised for public web access. That is achieving their mission of heritage outreach. The point is: How much do we value having such a project and why are the council and its staff having to conduct such a valuable exercise with their resources?
Making heritage accessible to all and selling it as an attractive tourist commodity is part of ensuring its commercial viability. It means that all our spheres of government need to seize on the opportunities which are presented and to market our nation and our heritage.
When the Victorian architectural jewel, which is the centre of Pietermaritzburg, is allowed to decay into grime and neglect because of the position of its municipal finances, we should all be worried. When this happens because of the factional infighting of elements within the ruling ANC, who have been carrying out a fratricidal struggle for over three or four years, this is a public disgrace.
Respecting heritage means practising the virtues of good governance, and this is something the ANC in Maritzburg has to learn the hard way. That is not the way we go about cultivating justice and a caring society. Thank you. [Applause.]