Durban Welcomes World's Statisticians

VOTE OF THANKS BY HIS WORSHIP, COUNCILLOR OBED MLABA, MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, SOUTH AFRICA, AT OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 57th SESSION OF THE ISI CONFERENCE AT THE DURBAN ICC ON 16 AUGUST 2009.

Thank You, Programme Director.

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I wish to recognise the leadership of the International Statistics Institute and the South African local organising committee.

Before I proceed any further with my vote of thanks, I would like to take this opportunity to pay homage to one of the finest mathematicians South Africa ever produced, Professor Thamsanqa Wilkinson Kambule, who recently passed away at the age of 88.

Despite the horrendous impact apartheid had on black people, the likes of the elder statesman of education, who mentored and inspired anti-apartheid luminaries such as the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Reverend Frank Chikane and a generation of disadvantaged leaders and activists, had succeeded in reaching the pinnacle of academic excellence.

The reality that ISI-2009 has arrived today is a testimony to the worldwide resolve to rid the world of this horrific brand of racial discrimination and prejudice.

But let me also extend a vote of thanks to Statistician-General, Mr Pali Lehohla and the rest of his team at Statistics South Africa for choosing Durban as the preferred venue to host this gathering of scientists.

I am told that since its formation 124-year ago, this association is meeting for the very first time in sub-Saharan Africa.

As the Mayor of the eThekwini Metropole, I have pleasure in performing this civic duty and taking this opportunity of extending a warm and cordial welcome to all our distinguished delegates to this, the 57th world session of the International Statistics Institute.


I am pleased that Durban will go down as the dateline and destination for the significant gathering of global players in the statistical field and those developments relevant to shaping the world-wide statistical agenda will be discussed in this great hall.

It is most heartening that the world continues to look to Africa and that the ISI has headlined this conference “Siyabonga Africa”.

I join the people of Durban in saying: “Siyabonga ISI-2009”.

As a growing convention city on the edge of the Indian Ocean Rim, Durban has clinched a string of “first in Africa” bids of world conventions, congresses, concerts and sports championships in the past dozen years.

Let me assure you that, as someone who has implicit faith in Africa’s ability to deliver world-class events, this continent is imbued with humanity and home-grown hospitality to ensure that you enjoy an unforgettable African experience.

Also, the ISI-2009 Conference could not have come at a better time for our province of KwaZulu Natal.
Delegates are visiting at a time when Durban has less than 300 days to welcome hundreds of thousands of local and foreign football fans to the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held under the pan-African banner of “Ke Nako – Celebrating Africa’s Humanity!”

I hope that the soccer fans among the statisticians will join us again next year.

As a progressive city government committed to its 2020 Vision of ensuring that Durban enjoys the reputation of being Africa’s most caring and liveable city, I am proud that the City continues to host important conferences which bring together delegates from around the world.

Programme Director, Durban is known as South Africa’s playground and our delegates will get to witness this for themselves.

We will be throwing an exciting beach party for all of you on Tuesday.

I am confident that when all is said and done during the many sessions of your scientific discussions, including an extraordinary session on women in statistics, delegates will enjoy our sights and sounds while relaxing and experiencing an exotic taste of our cuisine, culture and hospitality.

I invite you to take a peep at the Moses Mabhida World Cup Soccer Stadium to get a sense of our unprecedented development since becoming a democratic state.

Our list of sightseeing and tourism icons, coupled with restaurants and pubs and major shopping malls are endless.

From the fascinating eco-friendly tourist zone of the Ushaka Marine World to the thunderous beats of Zulu culture, heritage and legacy in the Valley of the Thousand Hills, delegates will certainly receive value for money at these recommended tourist high spots.

Finally, I extend my best wishes to all the participants as you prepare to spend the next seven days discussing and debating issues ranging from the challenge of building a supply of statisticians for the future to tackling how many official statistical agencies are faced with the accelerating challenges to build and maintain the range of statisticians that are required to meet the ever increasing challenges of modern statistical offices.

Durban, South Africa and Africa will benefit from your intellectual and technical inputs, intervention and sharing of your diverse knowledge economy.

With these few words of good wishes and goodwill, I place on record the city’s gratitude and thanks to one and all that have made this conference an African reality today.

I Thank You.

Durban Mayor Salutes Imagine Durban Team

Message from Political Leadership
By City of Durban Mayor
His Worship Councillor
Obed Mlaba

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the work of the Imagine Durban team during its 2007-2009 term in raising the profile on the eThekwini Municipality’s commitment to current global issues such safer and sustainable cities, climate change, energy saving, conservation, environment and greenhouse gas emissions.

Spearheaded by the city’s Corporate Policy Unit, the roll-out of the Demonstration Project reached many communities and created enormous awareness on environmental issues in the urban and rural areas of the Greater Durban Region in the past two years.

Through our partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency, the eThekwini Municipality led a successful community-driven initiative on integrated, long-term planning for Durban. I am pleased that this project, implemented in conjunction with Sustainable Cities, a Non- Governmental Organisation from Vancouver, Canada, and the PLUS Network of 35 cities in 14 countries, provided Durban with an international platform of sharing experiences in sustainability planning and sustainable community development.
An added boost to the project was Durban’s hosting of a conference on Sustainable Cities in 2008. After South Africa hosted the first World Summit on Sustainability at the turn of the new century, Durban became one of the first global cities to have signed protocols on Sustainability and Climate Change.
As a progressive city, the political leadership and the municipal administration are guided by the city’s 2020 vision that reads: "By 2020, eThekwini Municipality will enjoy the reputation of being Africa’s most caring and liveable city, where all citizens live in harmony. This Vision will be achieved by growing its economy and meeting people’s needs so that all citizens enjoy a high quality of life with equal opportunities, in a city that they are truly proud of.”

As a city that cares for its citizens and the environment and that is why as a city government we remain committed to transforming Durban into a truly sustainable city by striving to achieve the following key focal areas and themes:

· Creating a safer city;
· Ensuring a more environmentally sustainable city;
· Promoting an accessible city;
· Creating a city where all enjoy sustainable livelihoods;
· Fostering a more caring and empowering city;
· Celebrating the city’s cultural diversity, history and heritage;
Through Durban’s Long Term Planning for City Sustainability, I am confident that the publication, The Power of Imagination, published by the Corporate Policy Unit, will chronicle the short history of the Imagine Durban project and bring to the public domain the 50 Lessons from Durban, South Africa.

May the “Imagine” concept continue to highlight Durban’s commitment to change ahead of the United Nations’ Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Hopefully, Africa’s contribution, concerns and perspectives to the governmental negotiations will lead to the formation of a continental network on environmental and Climate Change issues.

Message researched and written by Marlan Padayachee, Amanda Cele,Sally Nene, Sibusiso Ngema, all of GreenGold Africa Communications, on behalf of the Mayor’s Office, City of Durban, eThekwini Municipality, for the Durban’s Long-Term Planning for City Sustainability, Power of Imagination publication by the Corporate Policy Unit, 7 August 2009 / www.greengoldcom.com/ greengold@mtnloaded.co.za 083 796 1762/ 083 797 1762/ 031 266 0178, 266 5599 (telefax)

Durban's Little India

Grey Street lost colour as a landmark.(News)
Article from:
Post (South Africa)
Article date:
March 25, 2009 Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2009 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
IN THE February 15, 1996, issue of POST, political reporter Marlan Padayachee wrote that "Durban's Grey Street, one of South Africa's most colourful landmarks, appeared to be slowly losing its niche market as a 'Little India' under the African sun".
He stated criminal activities, including snatching of gold chains from Indian women, had resulted in a substantial drop in the number of shoppers and tourists visiting the unique street.
He added "the city's world famous 1km stretch of sari and sweetmeat shops, takeaway curry and rice cornershops, tuk-tuks and taxis, cobblers and clothing stores, mosques and temples, was a dividing line where East met West".
Economic ...

They Danced in the Rain for Zuma's Socialist Nirvana

By Marlan Padayachee

HLUHLUWE is an unlikely place to be visiting on Easter Monday.

Hailed as a tourism magnet because it is home to the Big Five wildlife celebrities and the sacred wetlands, morning broke with a cacophony of hustle and bustle in the one-horse town. At the crossroads of this pineapple town, two worlds greet each other locals and visitors eye one another.

A microcosm of our society was coming alive. Whites were busy in their own world, filling up their tanks and stomachs. Blacks were working and others milling around, preparing for the big day in a town where the poor and jobless witness wealth on wheels.

Hauntingly, a picture of the old country began emerging on the grey skyline with rain threatening the day’s spoils of the new country.

Suddenly, the central hub around the petrol station and convenience centre gets busier with SUVs, with caravans and trailers in tow, competing with mini-bus taxis and buses for space.

Over the holy weekend, holidaymakers lapped up the beauty of the Big Five - lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino and other species of indigenous game, they marveled at the flight of pink flamingoes skimming over the Umfolozi. The day dawned for the homeward-bound trek back to the reality check of life in a rainbow country blurred by a fourth democratic election, shrinking currency, fuel shortage sparked by striking truck drivers and the daily diet and dossier of crime, corruption and poor service delivery.

A hearty American breakfast was in order as waiters rushed around, delivering piping hot plates of bacon, eggs and boerwors and steaming coffee.

The visitors appear to be oblivious of the unfolding drama taking place in the town centre, as if they had just visited another world on the edge of a paradise, a seamless catalogue of the sights and sounds of thousands of hectares of animals and birds.

Here in the heartland of the amaZulu country, traditional home of the descendants of the world’s renowned warrior-king, Shaka, the black townsfolk were preparing for a battle royal of new proportions.

This time there are two bulls in a China shop.

A giant colour poster of the old elephant of the north, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, welcomes people as if the Inkatha Freedom Party leader has just been given the freedom of the town. Elsewhere, there were scatterlings of the ANC’s picture-poster image of the new lion of post-apartheid politics, Jacob Zuma.

Both giants are wrestling for control of KwaZulu Natal. This is the heart of the amaZulu country where the country’s isiZulu-speaking presidential frontrunner is taking on the main opposition in their own battleground.

Hluhluwe was preparing for the Big Man. Thousands of young and old supporters, sporting bright yellow and green “Zuma for President” T-shirts, and waving flags bearing the picture of the cadre-commander who would become South Africa’s next political king, were ferried through the town in buses and mini-buses.

Brand ANC had rolled into town. Four sleek Mini Coopers, branded highly in the green, yellow and black colours of the ruling party, formed the security buffer strip between the proletariat and the political elite.

The spirit of this Easter Monday, unlike the sleepy hollow environment of years gone by, had resurrected a new energy in toy-toying politics. The young outnumbered the old as they jived in the pelting rain, waiting for the Black Jesus to bring them the Promised Land.

With a new burst of hope in their eyes, they danced to a new ritual and renaissance. A messiah was coming to town to bring good tidings for long overdue rural development, jobs and economic spin-offs.

But the crowds waited and waited, investing sweat equity for four hours in the intermittent rain with the only blessing coming from some sunshine.

Hundreds of kilometres away in the Inkatha strongholds of Ingavuma and Jozini, the singing president-in-waiting was winning the hearts and minds of voters to secure the traditional homeland again.

Then a shiny blue bird hovers over the dusty town. The ululating crowds go wild with excitement. To the rhythms of popular lyrics praising the Big Man, the election road show shifts into top gear.

With the electioneering out of the way, the support of the Amakhosi in the bag, the rally is boosted by four female defectors swopping their lackluster IFP T-shirts for the bright green and yellow apparel of the ANC.

A firm presidential pledge to deliver a “Better Life for All” falls far short of their collective expectations.

They had not waited in vain in a day of diabolical climate change to whet their appetites with bread and butter politics. They were waiting for Msholozi’s grandstanding of “Lethu Mshini Wami” (Bring me my machine gun) as he tap-danced his way around the stage to the beat of the homebred hitsong that has become the trademark of his meteoric rise (the fall is history) to African political royalty.

The ANC, more than the emerging opposition coalition bloc, will face the litmus test of delivering a socialist nirvana to the voters after the 22 April poll. Maybe, Christmas may come early to Hluhluwe.

Ends

Focus on Local Economic Development in KwaZulu Natal

By Marlan Padayachee, Speechwriter to the Deputy Mayor of the City of Durban, Logie Naidoo

Opening and Welcome Address by Councillor Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Economic and Development Committee of the eThekwini Municipality City of Durban, South Africa, at the Annual LED Conference at the International Convention Centre, Durban, on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 at 08h30.

Thank You, Programme Director, Ms Carol Coetzee, Head of the Department of Economic Development.

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests and Honorary Guests and Stakeholders.

I am pleased as Chairperson of the eThekwini Municipality’s Economic and Development Committee and the city’s Deputy Mayor to bid all of you a warm welcome to the Annual Local Economic Development Conference piloted by the KwaZulu-Natal’s Finance and Local Development Department.

May I take this opportunity of thanking our counterparts in the provincial government for choosing Durban as the convention city for this all-important conference, taking place at a time when world markets are jittery and there are growing concerns about our own local economy and its strategic development in this region.

I am sure that after last night’s opening banquet and social and business networking at this venue that the local organising committee and delegates are inspired to ring in the changes and give new meaning to the conference theme, “Together, Accelerating Local Economic Development”.

It is also encouraging for our local economy when a big-brand bank like Nedbank signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Economic Development that demonstrates another chapter to government’s enterprising strategy of locking in the private sector in our public sector initiatives and projects.

As you may agree, government alone cannot overcome the post-apartheid challenges of service delivery and the realigning of the socio-economic landscapes that contradict our city, regions and country.

The African National Congress, for its part as the majority party in the eThekwini Municipality, fully supports the cut and thrust of our election manifesto: “Working Together, We Can Do More.”

On that note, it is with a sense of pride and pleasure that I officially welcome one and all to Durban and wish you all the best in your deliberations, debates, dissents and discourse, as you collectively contribute towards making a difference to the economic landscape.

I am therefore privileged and honoured to recognise and acknowledge the presence, participation and the leadership of the Honourable Premier of KwaZulu Natal, Comrade Doctor Sibusiso Joel Ndebele.

It is my pleasure to welcome and acknowledge the Honourable MEC for Finance and Economic Development, Comrade Doctor Zweli Mkhize.

I wish to welcome and recognise the contribution of the following role-players.

The Chief Director: Provincial & Local Government Infrastructure, National Treasury. Mrs Malijeng Ngqaleni.

The HOD for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Ms Gabi Gumbi-Masilela.

Mr Jabulane Moremi of the Development Bank of South Africa’s LED Capacity Development Programme.

Mr Sihle Mkhize, General Manager: Economic Planning, DED

Dr L. P. Mondi, Chief Economist & Divisional Executive: Professional Services, IDC.

Ms Astrid Ludin of Finmark Trust

Mr N Dlamini of Save Act,

Mr Frikkie Brooks, General Manager: Development Planning of the Department of Local Government.

The HOD of for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Ms Gabi Gumbi-Masilela

Ms Gabriele Trah of GTZ.

I also welcome all my colleagues, the District Mayors and Municipal Managers and Chief Financial Officers and as well the Business Leaders.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Today’s conference, headlined by the relevance and timing of “Together, Accelerating Local Economic Development” should provide a perfect scenario for our pioneering government leaders, notably Dr Ndebele and Dr Mkhize, and our social and economic experts to provide a blueprint that will navigate this region into economic road map that will benefit our impoverished communities from the urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

I stand before you with a sense of optimism, despite the world credit crunch and looming job losses that presenters, participants and delegates will work as a team in a collective effort to provide us with economic solutions for a changing economic landscape.

The challenges and complexities are indeed onerous, but 15 years later, we have to continue our unique public-private sector partnership to ensure that we not only accelerate the local economy, but we accelerate service delivery to the millions of voters, constituencies and communities who believe that there is a “Better Life for All” – but the question is – How Soon?

Therefore, this Local Economic Development conference is ideally positioned to map out the kind of economic initiatives and imperatives that will begin to spell new hope for all our stakeholders.

I am confident that the April 22 election will provide the necessary stimulus for the new government leadership to pin-point the socio-economic priorities that will alter the present landscape of joblessness, poverty, homelessness, the perceived slowdown in the black economic empowerment arena, particularly for emerging entrepreneurs and the reluctance on the part of big business to provide opportunities and skills development training for previously disadvantaged people.

Now is the time, ladies and gentlemen, for the tripartite alliance of government, labour and the community to work together and make things happen to identify economic growth, create jobs, fast-track rural development and alleviate poverty.

Working Together, We Can Do More.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the eThekwini Municipality has made the economic development and growth of small, medium-sized and microenterprises its strong focal point in the past ten years.

Annually, the city’s Business Support Unit contributes R18-million of Durban’s R25-million budget towards stimulating the SMMEs through our yearly Small Business Fair that started with 40 SMMES.

Today, almost 350 SMMES participate in the Small Business Fair.

That’s not all: an average of 3 000 people supported the fair last year.

The fair provides a perfect platform for SMMEs, where emerging businesses look for opportunities for joint ventures for the purpose of business growth.
This, in turn, creates massive job opportunities for locals.
Our political commitment ensures that the municipality, within the city’s 2020 Vision, creates a viable and vibrant economic platform for our ‘Second Economy’ – represented largely by the SMMEs – to make headway in the current economic tidal wave.

Ten years later, the city continues to provide opportunities for SMMES – including disabled business people - to gain access to markets and to provide them with the necessary training and business networking opportunities both on a local and international level.
I am optimistic that despite the credit crunch and difficulties experienced in the local economy, this city-wide stimulus will accelerate the economic growth of black economic empowerment and SMMES will continue to be the lifeblood of our local economy as many of them strives to aspire for mainstream of the first economy.
Finally, the eThekwini Municipality salutes the MEC for Finance and Economic Development and his team at the department for pulling together this conference.
May today’s deliberations point us in the direction of economic recovery, progress and growth, and as a city government, the municipality will continue to play a powerful role in ensuring that our service delivery mechanism is in top gear to meet the aspirations and ambitions of so many people who are waiting to board the economic express to help government realise the dream of a “Better Life for All.”
These economic solutions and challenges can emerge from this conference and by “Working Together, We Can Do More.”
My best wishes to all the participants for a fruitful conference.
And remember that the accent is on acceleration.
I Thank You.
Speech researched and written for the Mayor’s Office, eThekwini Municipality 16 March 2009 by GreenGold Africa Communications: greengold@telkomsa.net/ www.greengoldcom.com/ 083 796 1762/ 083 797 1762 _______

The Centenary - A Class of Its Own in Durban

By Marlan Padayachee, Speechwriter to the Mayor of Durban, Obed Mlaba
Opening Address by His Worship, Councillor Obed Mlaba, the Mayor of the eThekwini Municipality, at the opening of the Centenary Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre on Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 17h00.
Thank You, Programme Director.
Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests and Stakeholders.
Mr Carlos Correia, Chief Executive Officer of the Isolenu Group.
The representatives of Moreland and the Tongaat Huletts Group.
All Protocols Observed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand before you as the Mayor of one of the fastest growing and developing cities in Africa.
In the past 15 years since the changing of the guard at the City Hall to what I believe is a truly progressive, people-centred and business-friendly city government, I have attended more sod-turning ceremonies and the opening of new buildings than before in my entire life.
This experience itself speaks for itself as far as how far we have come in our public-private sector partnership that was mooted by Nelson Mandela.
Each day, from the city’s skyline is changing.
Not in 15 years since we ushered democracy with a promise for a “Better Life for All”, I have not witnessed so many cranes dominating our skylines from Umbumbulu to Umhlanga.
From the pioneering development of Bridge City in the nearby Kwa Mashu/Ntuzuma Township to the Centenary in the New Town Centre in Umhlanga, the city’s landscape is undergoing phenomenal changes.
From the south to the north of the city’s coastal flanks leading up to the majestic development of the King Shaka International Airport and the Dube Tradeport, Durban is experiencing a real infrastructural and development boom for the first time in many decades.
The Centenary in the New Town Centre is now part of this exciting mix of socio-economic history that is taking place as central, provincial and municipal government work hand in hand to map out Durban’s 2020 Vision of creating a safer and sustainable city where all sectors of citizens, the rich and the poor, shall live and work in harmony in a changing society.
The versatility, style and modern design of the Centenary is an inspiring new asset to our city and our rapidly growing inner-city town centres such as the gilt-edged location of Umhlanga and its portfolio of big-brand businesses.
This evening, I wish to roundly congratulate the visionaries and developers of this magnificent project that has added new value to the city as we strive to put our best foot forward for the FIFA 2010 World Cup Soccer.
This project is the brainchild of a visionary company, Moreland and the Tongaat Huletts Group.
In years to come, the New Town Centre’s revolutionary design, functionality and affordability will be judged as one of the finest models for the future urban development planning in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Centenary’s form and beauty, aesthetically supplemented by a unique, bustling business environment and some of the finest residential developments and prestige golf estates, and encapsulating Old Mutual's extraordinary R1, 6 billion Gateway Theatre of Shopping, is certainly an attractive option for businesses looking for a world-class sectional title block.
While property developers and experts will agree with me that the concept of sectional title ownership has been foreign to our own investors.
Ladies and Gentlemen, once they view or hear about the Centenary, I am confident that local and foreign investors will snap up this popular option for sectional title office and industrial properties.
The answer is simple: This makes good business and economic sense because the cost is shared by all tenants.
Thank you, very much, for giving me and the eThekwini Municipality and opportunity to grace this opening ceremony and endorse this breathtaking project.
I extend our best wishes to the developers and tenants and may the Centenary stand out majestically in the sea of beauty and progress.
Finally, when the African National Congress says: “Working Together, We Can Do More” – we mean just that – May our public-private partnership continue in a spirit of trust and co-operation so that we can all deliver on the city’s 2020 vision to create jobs and provide a safer and sustainable city.
Kindly let me leave you with the words of wisdom from one of the world’s most daring entrepreneurs, Richard Branson who said:”Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.”
I Thank You.
______________________________________________________________________________
Speech researched and written for the Mayor’s Office, eThekwini Municipality, City of Durban, South Africa 13 March 2009 by GreenGold Africa Communiactions: Marlan Padayachee/Sally Nene/Amanda Cele/ greengold@telkomsa.net/ www.greengoldcom.com 0837961762/0837971762/0312661762/
_________________________________________________________________________

Imagine Durbban Supports Earth Hour 2009

By Marlan Padayachee, Imagine Durban

Imagine Durban supports Earth Hour 2009

Imagine Durban is supporting eThekwini Municipality participation in World Wildlife Foundation’s Earth Hour. The global campaign aims to get more than one-billion people in over 1 000 cities switching off lights between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday, 28 March.

Imagine Durban, a city council-driven initiative on integrated, long-term planning in coalition with Sustainable Cities and the PLUS Network has called on Durban households and businesses to support the campaign by switching off lights for an hour between 8.30 and 9.30pm. Pledge your support at www.earthhour.org.za

The lights-out awareness campaign that began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, grew spectacularly last year when more than 50 million people in over 270 cities in over 35 countries responded positively to the clarion call to reduce the world’s high energy consumption that affects global climate change.

Imagine Durban is encouraging all home-owners, businesses and anyone who uses electricity to support Earth Hour by switching off lights and any other non-essential appliances. Residents and social groups are urged to organise fun, electricity-free events with friends and family to spend the ‘global hour’ discussing how they can reduce energy consumption by contributing to global warming and what government can do to address this problem.
Durban’s flagship venue, the International Convention Centre, will be in darkness for an hour on the night to raise awareness of how excessive use of energy affects climate change across the world.

Simultaneously, the city’s “Switch Off, Unplug and Save” public campaign is aimed at encouraging residents and business owners to use less electricity by saving 10 percent of their electricity consumption.

Global warming is caused by the emission of Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Eskom's electricity production accounts for over 60 percent of South Africa’s national greenhouse gas emissions.

Closer to home, climate change in Durban is expected to result in higher temperatures, more storms and rising sea levels, thereby increasing the risk of diseases, disruptions to agricultural systems and loss of life and damage to property through more floods and coastal storms.

150 Years of Indians in South Africa

2010 A defining milestone for a colorful community
Marlan Padayachee comes from a long of chiefs and reflects on his ancestry and forebears ahead of 150 years of Indians in 2010 South Africa.

Dateline Durban: 2010 is an important year for South Africa. With the FIFA World Cup taking centre stage next winter, another significant, though on a smaller scale, will unfold across the country.

South Africa’s 1,3 million strong Indian community, will be commemorating and celebrating 150 years of their legacy, history and heritage as descendants of sugar cane slaves who were shipped by colonial India to Durban on 16 November 1860.

The community’s economic platform was also built by the traders and skilled artisan and teachers who followed one of the most epic journeys of human-labour cargo.

There are 25 million Indians outside India, with South Africa ranking among the most unique group in the Indian Diaspora.

The staging of the Miss India Worldwide Pageant in Durban this year, featuring Indian beauties from almost 25 countries, gives excellent cultural and performing arts portrayal of the community. This international pageant may be hosted in 2010 in Durban and Mauritius, where the first batch of Indians arrived with the rest landing in two ships and followed by hundreds of thousands until the 1900s.

Recently, local Indians built bridges at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Global Indian Diaspora) Convention in Chennai, India, an occasion that provides an opportunity to examine the perennial identity crisis facing SA’s Indians. This time next year the Indian community will celebrate a plethora of projects marking their co-existence in Africa, a far cry from the country they refer to as the motherland or Thai Nadu.While older generations are emotional and sentimental about traditional and historical ties with Mother India, the younger generations seek jobs and lifestyles in Western democracies, leaving behind the baggage of the past.On the flipside, the hybrid of labourers and traders has the capacity to fuse this milestone into a continental psyche that will herald the first kick-off of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and throw Africa into a euphoric explosion of football frenzy. Their culture contributes to our cosmopolitan society.A community with a history and heritage can offer much more to a country with the complexities and challenges of economic empowerment, nation-building, poverty, crime and corruption.During the reign of the British Raj, agriculturally skilled Indians were shipped to SA and other colonial outposts to turn sugar cane plantations into new economies for the imperial industrialists, hence the term “green gold”. Peasants, faced with grinding poverty, were lured via the colonial expansion to work on the railways, mines, agriculture and domestic services.After the SS Truro dropped anchor in Durban Bay on November 16, 1860, with the first batch, shiploads of semi-skilled slaves, professionals and merchants were ferried in droves. The economic migration ended 50 years later. The pioneers gave birth to a new generation, the largest outside India.While the stoical semi-slaves transformed the green fields into gold for sugar barons, traders and craftsmen gave Indians an economic and capitalist face on this edge of the Indian Ocean rim.It took a visionary, M. K. Gandhi, to change the complexion of how the business and the underclass Indians would map out their survival strategy and destiny in the face of discrimination that was also meted out to indigenous people.In the Indian Diaspora, the local community stands out for a variety of reasons, with political resistance and an enterprising spirit ranking high.The “uniqueness” comes from the work culture that they inherited from their forebears, always resilient in the face of adversity. Credibility came by siding with the oppressed masses. With this alliance, they got rid of the colonial-apartheid leg irons.Staving off repatriation, they sacrificed so much for so many people to enjoy freedom, social justice and human rights, making them a cut above the rest in the global village.On the other side of the coin, the grass is no longer greener for working-class Indians, now in a similar position to poorer black workers.Although Indians today are a formidable presence, enjoying social cohesion and economic advantage, and continue to influence business and politics, the legacy of the 1860 descendants has been left behind by change.Or did the winds of an epoch-making transformation push Indians onto the margins of the economically empowered black mainstream, in sharp contrast to the role they played in the resistance to apartheid?With 800 000 Indians in KwaZulu-Natal, 2010 still provides an excellent exhibition to showcase their 150 years.Politically, the Indian swing vote is important to the national ballot, being split between the African National Congress and its dissident Congress of the People formation, and a variety of opposition parties.Conservative by nature, Indians blow hot and cold. Always apolitical, they are cautious and put “place bets” on the political roulette wheel. They need to assimilate themselves into the nation’s heartbeat.Yet of 1, 3 million Asians, two percent of South Africa’s population of 47 million, Indians are in the majority.When they arrived from colonial India, they were termed Indian South Africans. At the Global People of Indian Origin gathering, they were called South Africans of Indian origin. They have evolved via political resistance to Indian-African or African-Indian.Notwithstanding the sentimental journey, emotional bloodlines and poignant history, culminating in the triumphal spirit of humanity, the identity crisis is a post-apartheid challenge. This is further complicated by a strong identification with Bollywood, heart-throbbing ethnic music, spicy cuisines, sweetmeats and saris, demonstrating that the umbilical cord with Mother India is still intact. Today, a legacy lives in the hearts and minds of a people whose forebears toiled from dawn to dusk under the African sun.
Marlan Padayachee, who covered President Mandela’s State Visit to India in 1995, is an international freelance journalist and social and political commentator who runs a media strategy consultancy in South Africa: greengold@telkomsa.net

Revisiting Rhodes University

By Khaya Thonjeni
Schools Outreach Officer
Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies

Marlan Padayachee to apply for JMS Masters in 2010
Seasoned journalist Marlan Padayachee, who also heads GreenGold Africa Communications, was spotted reading a copy of Grocott’s Mail in the Africa Matrix Media building after an academic visit and meetings with Professors Larry Strelitz and Guy Berger. He was en-route from an assignment at the Lalibela Private Game Reserve when he revisited Grahamstown to discuss a part time study proposal for a Master’s degree at the JMS in 2010.
He shared his story of how apartheid blackballed him from studying journalism in the 1970s: “In terms of the Separate University Act and the Group Areas Act, I could not enrol at Rhodes University. I was directed to the Minister of Internal Affairs to apply for a special permit. It was politically incorrect to request a special dispensation when the rest of South Africa’s disenfranchised people were subjected to these discriminatory laws. However, I took sabbatical in 2000 from Independent Newspapers and some opportunities included coming to Rhodes as a visiting lecturer and I am grateful to Guy Berger for arranging that visit.”
“It’s time to bring closure on this chapter and work towards attaining an academic qualification from one of the world’s leading journalism schools,” says Padayachee, who earned a British Council Scholarship to study international journalism at London’s City University in the 1980s and was recognised for his brave reporting style during the apartheid and democracy era with the International Visitor’s Award from the American Government in the 1990s.
His involvement in the University of Natal’s Cultural and Media Studies in Durban in 2000 inspired him to promote the industry-institution linkage. In 2003, he started broad-based media consultancy where he writes speeches for mayors and government ministers, co-ordinates social responsibility projects for corporate firms and writes for a variety of publications locally and abroad.
For more information on how to enrol for a master’s degree click here.

Marlan Padayachee to Secure 2010 Host City for India Pageant

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Miss India Worldwide 2010 in South Africa
Africa> Southern Africa, South AfricaNew accounts : Marketing & Media AccountsMarlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications gains 2010 Miss India Worldwide Pageant accountMore accounts...Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications gains 2010 Miss India Worldwide Pageant accountMarlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications have been appointed by African Cultural Events and India Festival Committee New York to secure a host-city for the 2010 Miss India Worldwide Pageant, following the success of the 'House Full' 2009 Miss India Worldwide Pageant at Durban's SuncoastCasino Sundeck on Valentine's Day.

It's lights, camera, action

© 1999 - 2009 Sunday Tribune & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd.

Published in The ISSUE Page – © Herald, Durban, South Africa, 11 Jan 2009.
It’s lights, camera, action
Speech Delivered by Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo, Published speech researched and written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications, South Africa

Durban is trying to grab a slice of Bollywood action, with the launch of the Durban Film Office and Anant Singh’s plans for a R40 million film city. Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo revealed this in his paper, “Cultural entertainment and movie industry opportunities between India and Durban”, delivered at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai 7-9 January 2009.
Read more on: www.wordsmith-commissar.blog spot.com

Indians - A Colourful Community

A colorful community 08 Jan 2009 published in the Natal Witness, South Africa
Marlan Padayachee
This week local Indians are building bridges at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Global Indian Diaspora) Convention in Chennai, India, an occasion that provides an opportunity to examine the perennial identity crisis facing the Indian community in South Africa who will celebrate 150 years in South Africa in 2010. This time next year the Indian community will celebrate a plethora of projects marking their 150-year co-existence in Africa, a far cry from the country they refer to as the motherland or Thai Nadu.While older generations are emotional and sentimental about traditional and historical ties with Mother India, the younger generations seek jobs and lifestyles in Western democracies, leaving behind the baggage of the past.On the flipside, the hybrid of labourers and traders has the capacity to fuse this milestone into a continental psyche that will herald the first kick-off of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and throw Africa into a euphoric explosion of football frenzy. Their culture contributes to our cosmopolitan society.A community with a history and heritage can offer much more to a country with the complexities and challenges of economic empowerment, nation-building, poverty, crime and corruption.During the reign of the British Raj, agriculturally skilled Indians were shipped to South Africa and other colonial outposts to turn sugar cane plantations into new economies for the imperial industrialists, hence the term “green gold”. Peasants, faced with grinding poverty, were lured via the colonial expansion to work on the railways, mines, agriculture and domestic services.After the SS Truro dropped anchor in Durban Bay on November 16, 1860 with the first batch, shiploads of semi-skilled slaves, professionals and merchants were ferried in droves. The economic migration ended 50 years later. The pioneers gave birth to a new generation, the largest outside India.While the stoical semi-slaves transformed the green fields into gold for sugar barons, traders and craftsmen gave Indians an economic and capitalist face on this edge of the Indian Ocean rim.It took a visionary, M. K. Gandhi, to change the complexion of how the business and the underclass Indians would map out their survival strategy and destiny in the face of discrimination that was also meted out to indigenous people.In an Indian diaspora of 20 million, the local community stands out for a variety of reasons, with political resistance and an enterprising spirit ranking high.The “uniqueness” comes from the work culture that they inherited from their forebears, always resilient in the face of adversity. Credibility came by siding with the oppressed masses. With this al-liance, they got rid of the colonial-apartheid leg irons.Staving off repatriation, they sacrificed so much for so many people to enjoy freedom, social justice and human rights, making them a cut above the rest in the global village.On the other side of the coin, the grass is no longer greener for working-class Indians, now in a similar position to poorer black workers.Although Indians today are a formidable presence, enjoying social cohesion and economic advantage, and continue to influence business and politics, the legacy of the 1860 descendants has been left behind by change.Or did the winds of an epoch-making transformation push Indians onto the margins of the economically empowered black mainstream, in sharp contrast to the role they played in the resistance to apartheid?With 800 000 Indians in KwaZulu-Natal, 2010 still provides an excellent exhibition to showcase their 150 years.Politically, the Indian swing vote is important to the national ballot, being split between the African National Congress and its dissident Congress of the People formation, and a variety of opposition parties.Conservative by nature, Indians blow hot and cold. Always apolitical, they are cautious and put “place bets” on the political roulette wheel. They need to assimilate themselves into the nation’s heartbeat.Yet of 1, 3 million Asians, two percent of South Africa’s population of 47 million, Indians are in the majority.When they arrived from colonial India, they were termed Indian South Africans. At the Global People of Indian Origin gathering, they were called South Africans of Indian origin. They have evolved via political resistance to Indian-African or African-Indian.Notwithstanding the sentimental journey, emotional bloodlines and poignant history, culminating in the triumphal spirit of humanity, the identity crisis is a post-apartheid challenge. This is further complicated by a strong identification with Bollywood, heart-throbbing ethnic music, spicy cuisines, sweetmeats and saris, demonstrating that the umbilical cord with Mother India is still intact. That’s why a contingent of Indians is lobbying at the Chennai Convention, hoping to sharpen their profiles, forge business opportunities and explore their ancestry. Significantly, Chennai is the port where mainly Tamil and Telugu-speaking labourers from the Madras presidency sailed for the “bay by the water”, and began to push into Africa. Today, a legacy lives in the hearts and minds of a people whose forebears toiled from dawn to dusk under the African sun.

Imagine Durban Promotes Tomorrow's Clowns without Borders

Eureka! Imagine Durban Puts Smiles on Tomorrow’s Homegrown Clowns


Written by Marlan Padayachee
Monday, 22 December 2008
In its quest to make a difference to the city’s environmental and human landscapes, Imagine Durban has transformed the lives of several young people from previously disadvantaged and indigent communities through the drama therapy of simply clowning around for a worthy cause.
Step aside circus institution, Boswell Wilkies. Let the drums roll for a curtain call to Vuka Circus, Durban’s first, homegrown circus road show.
With jobs becoming scarce for young graduates and school-leavers amid a global recession and economic meltdown, Imagine Durban, in an exciting partnership with the internationally-renowned Clowns Without Borders, has successfully harnessed the untapped skills of eight youths from the Durban’s inner-city townships and other areas. After a month-long programme, including workshops in the art of clowning around, twisting a balloon, juggling in pairs and scaling new heights on the shoulders of clowning colleagues, Eureka!
Vuka Circus is the latest red-nosed brigade that’s on the roll to put smiles on the faces of men, women and children throughout Durban, from the historic heritage site of Bhambayi’s Gandhi Settlement to the Valley of 1000 Hills.
The Clowns Without Borders’ mentoring and skills development workshops with Vuka Circus is one of the central themes of Imagine Durban, a project led by the eThekwini Municipality, to celebrate Durban’s cultural diversity, arts and heritage.
Imagine Durban is a Municipality sponsored project being implemented in conjunction with Sustainable Cities, a Canadian NGO and the PLUS Network, a network of 35 cities in 14 countries that has been established to share experiences in sustainability planning, that is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.
A core element of the Imagine Durban project was to allocate funding for community Demonstration Projects that would directly benefit the citizens of Durban in a sustainable way. There are currently eight Imagine Durban Demonstration Projects that will be implemented throughout the Municipality addressing issues ranging from public safety and food security to art and livelihoods.
With the launch of the first Demonstration Project, Vuka Circus has arrived. Through choreography of colourful antics, juggling, animation, acrobats and even scaling shoulders, Vuka Circus narrates the painful and poignant stories of the deadly scourge of HIV-Aids and the post-apartheid nightmare of xenophobhia that has blighted the new South Africa’s human rights image.
Vuka Circus performed the awareness raising show eleven times in early December. Nine of the performances were followed by workshops in which children were taught some clowning basics after which they were divided into groups and the performers facilitated a discussion about xenophobia.
Through the skilful antics of Busi Biyela or Bongekile Mabuya or Sipho Mdletshe, or Michael Ncayiyana’s red-nosed clowning, the juggling prowess of Sabee Shozi and Mduza Nzuza, Thandile Phoswa’s prancing in hoops of joy and jubilation, the rookie change agents animates the intolerance of humanity towards each other, the desperate scramble for bread crumbs in the shrinking food chain cycle and a dash for menial jobs in the marketplace.
“Clowns are far more than showing how to twist balloons or creating balloon sculpture and Clowns Without Borders, with the excellent support of Imagine Durban, has empowered Vuka Circus with new skills as clowns, acrobats and jugglers,” said Jamie Lachman, Founder and Director Clowns Without Borders South Africa, soon after his protégés delivered their final laugh-a-minute performance at the BAT Centre on the city’s waterfront recently.
“Through juggling, acrobats, games and some clowning, children learn in a fun way how to talk about the recent xenophobic attacks on foreigners and how to deal with the burning question of HIV-AIDS that continues to affect parents and guardians and leaves children orphaned.”
Project administrator Lulu Ngcobo says she has witnessed some “amazing transformation” in the scores of youths who have benefited from the road shows: “Imagine Durban has given us an excellent opportunity to source the best talents from communities that are sidelined from the social and economic mainstream. These free skills development opportunities has empowered youths with professional development and life skills and many of them are now much more versatile.
Eleven performances later, the colourful clown troupe that makes up the Vuka Circus has brought smiles and laughter to the children and adults in schools and communities across Durban, highlighting the pangs of a post-apartheid society caught in a grip of grinding poverty and unemployment. They left their audiences in stitches.

A Little Picasso with a Passion for Art - Deyakhar Padayachee

ART @ Westville Senior Primary School, South Africa

We recently submitted a number of children’s art to the Royal Show Art Competition. The following children won prizes for their art :Grade 4. Dominique de Grandpré – 1st, Courtney Slaney – 3rdGrade 5 Deyakhar Padayachee - 1stGrade 6 Michelle Reynolds - 2nd, Michael Ramsey – 3rd, Matthew Wessels - 3rdSpecial Competition – Let’s CelebrateJoshua Nelson (Grade 7) - 1stDylan Howard (Grade 7) - 2ndTamryn Woolacott (Grade 7) - 3rdWell done on winning first, second and third in this division.Highly CommendedGrade 7 - Lulu Ndimeni, Stanley Liu and Emilye Slabbert.Out of the five sections entered, we won 10 of the 15 prizes and the Reynolds Trophy for the Junior School winning the most points in the Art division. Well done to all these learners and to Mrs Evans for helping them to produce Art of such a high standard.

Bid to Bring Bollywood to Durban - Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo

Researched and Written by Marlan Padayachee, Speechwriter to Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of the City of Durban, eThekwini Municipality, South Africa.
A PAPER PRESENTED BY COUNCILLOR LOGIE NAIDOO, DEPUTY MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY, CITY OF DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, AT THE ANNUAL PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS IN CHENNAI, INDIA, FROM 7-9 JANUARY 2009.
TOPIC: CULTURAL ENTERTAINMENT AND MOVIE INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN INDIA AND DURBAN.
THANK YOU, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
DISTINGUISHED DELEGATES AND DIGNITARIES.
AS THE DEPUTY MAYOR OF THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY AND THE CITY OF DURBAN IN SOUTH AFRICA, I HAVE IMMENSE PRIDE AND PLEASURE IN RECOGNISING THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GLOBAL GATHERING OF PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN THAT HAS COME TO GAIN PROMINENCE IN THE INDIAN DIASPORA STAGE AS THE PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS.
THE HONOURABLE CHIEF MINISTERS, MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
THE MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS.
THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU.
THE CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY.
CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY.
CORPORATE AND BUSINESS LEADERS.
THE PEOPLE OF CHENNAI AND TAMIL NADU.
THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.
ALL STAKEHOLDERS AND ROLE-PLAYERS.
FELLOW PRESENTERS.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I WISH TO RECOGNISE SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES AND COMPATRIOTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION.

I AM ALSO PROUD THAT THEY ALL HAIL FROM THE CITY OF DURBAN.
ON THIS FORUM, I HAVE PLEASURE IN ACKNOWLEDGING THE PRESENCE AND PARTICIPATION OF:
· PROFESSOR DASARATH CHETTY, PRO-VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL;
· JUSTICE MOHINI MURUGASEN, ONE OF MANY WOMEN JURISTS APPOINTED TO THE BAR IN OUR TRANSFORMING LEGAL SYSTEM;
· MR THOLSIAH P NAIDOO, DIRECTOR OF THE INDIAN ACADEMY;
· MR AMICHAND RAJBANSI, LEADER OF THE MINORITY FRONT AND MEC FOR SPORT AND RECREATION IN THE KWAZULU-NATAL GOVERNMENT, AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO THE PROVINCIAL CABINET BY THE RULING AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS.
GOOD MORNING/GOOD AFTERNOON.
HAVING PREVIOUSLY ATTENDED THE PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS IN NEW DELHI, I MUST SALUTE THE JOINT ORGANISERS FOR THEIR FLEXIBILITY IN BRINGING THIS ANNUAL SOCIAL AND BUSINESS NETWORKING PLATFORM TO THE SOUTH EASTERN SHORES OF THIS ANCIENT CIVILISATION THAT IS INEXTRICABLY TIED TO OUR HISTORY, HERITAGE, LEGACY AND DESTINY IN SOUTH AFRICA.
NO ONE WOULD BE MORE THRILLED OR OVERWHELMED THAN ME IF THE PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS IS EXPORTED BEYOND THESE SACRED SHORES TO DURBAN, ON THE SOUTH EASTERN TIP OF AFRICA.
AS A SISTER-CITY OF CHENNAI, ANY INITIATIVE TO FLY THE FLAG OF THE PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS IN DURBAN WOULD BE BEST DESCRIBED AS GROUND-BREAKING AND SYMBOLIC.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SOUTH AFRICA’S DEFINING YEAR OF 2010 WILL SEE OUR MATURING AND FLEDGLING DEMOCRACY HOST ONE OF THE GREATEST SPORTING SPECTACLES IN THE WORLD, THE FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER.
IN THE YEAR OF OUR WORLD RECOGNITION, SOUTH AFRICA’S INDIAN COMMUNITY WILL ALSO BE CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF ITS CO-EXISTENCE IN AFRICA.
THIS WILL BE A NOSTALGIC MILESTONE, IN WHICH INDIA’S FATHER OF THE NATION, MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI, HAD A HAND IN SHAPING OUR DESTINY FROM THE SHACKLES OF COLONIAL-APARTHEID RULE.
FOR THIS PRICELESS AND SELFLESS CONTRIBUTION MADE BY GANDHIJI, INDIAN SOUTH AFRICANS, OF WHICH THE MAJORITY LIVE, WORK AND THRIVE IN THE CITY OF DURBAN, ARE INDEBTED AND GRATEFUL TO MOTHER INDIA.
LET ME PAUSE AT THIS STAGE TO SHARE WITH YOU A HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF OUR SHARED EXPERIENCE.
THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, THE MAJORITY PARTY IN DURBAN, AND MOST PART OF OUR REPUBLIC, HAS ENJOYED, AND CONTINUES TO ENJOY, A LONG-STANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CONGRESS PARTY OF INDIA EVER SINCE INDIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, SHRI SAROJINI NAIDOO DECLARED APARTHEID A CRIME TO HUMANITY IN THE 1940s.
EVER SINCE SHRI LATHA REDDY OPENED THE FIRST INDIAN CONSULATE IN DURBAN IN 1993, INDIA IS REMAINS A KEY STRATEGIC PARTNER FOR SOUTH AFRICA.
THE OPENING OF THE CONSULATE IN THE HEART OF OUR CBD HAS BEEN THE STIMULUS FOR UNPRECEDENTED TWO-WAY FLOW OF PEOPLE, TRADE RELATIONS AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN DURBAN AND MAJOR INDIAN CITIES OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS.
THEREFORE, OUR PRESENCE AND PARTICIPATION DURING THIS CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION IS TO ENSURE THAT THESE UNIQUE TIES ARE STRENGTHENED AND RAISED TO THE NEXT BAR OF MUTUAL CO-OPERATION BETWEEN A PEOPLE TIED BY A COMMON DESTINY.
AS INDIA AND CHINA JOSTLES TO EMERGE AS WORLD ECONOMIC LEADERS BY 2015, LET US JOIN US HANDS, HARNESS OUR SKILLS, TALENTS, RESOURCES AND CAPITAL AND MAKE THE SOUTH AFRICA-INDIA-BRAZIL AGREEMENT WORK BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS.
I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT DURBAN IS READY TO DO BUSINESS.
I SEE THE MEDIA, FILM AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AS THE NEW CATALYSTS FOR AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RENAISSANCE BETWEEN US.

I HAVE A VISION THAT 2009 IS THE CURTAIN-RAISER AND 2010 IS THE AFRICAN STAGE, THE GATEWAY TO A MULTITUDE OF OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, YOU CANNOT IMAGINE HOW EXCITED WE ARE TO MAKE THE BEST OF THE NEXT 12 MONTHS IN THE LEAD UP TO 2010 WHEN WE INVITE ONE OF OUR STRONGEST ALLIES, INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE, TO JOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE AFRICAN WORLD CUP AND THE 150 YEAR CELEBRATION OF INDIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
OUR INDIAN PARTNERS AND VISITORS WILL SOON REALISE THAT INDIANS ARE UBIQUITOUS IN DURBAN AND YOUR HOSPITALITY WILL BE AKIN TO HOME FROM HOME.
DURBAN IS HOME TO MORE THAN FOUR MILLION PEOPLE, OF WHICH MORE THAN 800 000 INDIANS RESIDE IN OUR COSMOPOLITAN CITY.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I TRUST THAT I HAVE WHETTED YOUR APPETITE THUS FAR.
TODAY, THROUGH THE PAGES OF MY PAPER AND A SLIDE PRESENTATION, I HOPE TO TRANSPORT YOU FROM INCREDIBLE INDIA ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN RIM TO A CITY THAT I WILL REFER TO AS AN AFRICAN PARADISE AND ITS PEOPLE.
MY TASK IS TO FOCUS ON THE CULTURAL ENTERTAINMENT AND MOVIE INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN INDIA AND THE CITY OF DURBAN.
WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE CONVENTION THEME : ENGAGING THE DIASPORA – THE WAY FORWARD, I INTEND PROVIDING SOME INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE COLLECTIVE SUB-THEMES OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, DIASPORA YOUTH IN 21ST CENTURY INDIA, BUILDING BRIDGES, TRADE AND INVESTMENT, DIASPORA PHILANTHROPHY, EDUCATION AND DIASPORA KNOWLEDGE NETWORK AND MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS CHAIRMAN OF THE CITY’S ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, I STAND BEFORE CONFIDENT THAT FILM INDUSTRY’S KEY CATCH-PHRASES: LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION! – HAS BECOME NEW SOCIAL ECONOMIC BUZZWORDS IN DURBAN.
DURBAN IS THE NEW STUDIO OF OUR BURGEONING FILM INDUSTRY.
OVER THE PAST 149 YEARS, WE IN DURBAN AND SOUTH AFRICA HAVE BEEN INSPIRED AND ENTERTAINED BY INDIA’S FILM INDUSTRY, KNOWN WORLDWIDE AS BOLLYWOOD.
EVEN IN THE DARKEST HOUR OF APARTHEID, BLACK AND WHITE FILMS RANGING FROM THE ALL-TIME CLASSIC, MOTHER INDIA, TO A VARIETY OF HINDI AND TAMIL MOVIES FEATURING SOME OF THE BEST-LOVED ACTORS, HAVE AN ENRICHED GENERATIONS OF INDIANS OUTSIDE THE SUB-CONTINENT.
TODAY, BOLLYWOOD IS AN INSTITUTION AMONG SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN ORIGIN.
TOGETHER WITH ALL OUR STAKEHOLDERS IN THIS PROMISING YOUNG INDUSTRY AND OUR PARTNERS IN INDIA, WE ARE DETERMINED FROM CALCUTTA TO CHENNAI TO BRING BOLLYWOOD TO DURBAN. I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT THE BUSTLING PORT CITY OF DURBAN IS ENTHUSIASTIC TO PARALLEL THE ESTABLISHED FILM INDUSTRIES IN OUR SISTER CITIES, CAPE TOWN AND JOHANESBURG.

I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE AT THIS FORUM THAT THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY HAS OPENED THE DURBAN FILM OFFICE, A FORERUNNER TO ENSURING THAT OUR FILM INDUSTRY GROWS INTO A LANDMARK LOCATION FOR INDIAN MOVIE-MAKERS.

AS A CONVENTION CITY WITH A MYRIAD OF NATURAL HERITAGE SITES, WILDLIFE AND BREATHTAKING LOCATIONS, FROM THE BERG TO THE BEACH, A REFERENCE TO OUR SPECTACULR SIGHTS OF THE DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAIN TO OUR SUN-SOAKED BEACHES, I CAN ASSURE BOLLLYWOOD OF THE CITY’S MAXIMUM CO-OPERATION AND SUPPORT.

OUR AFRICAN PARADISE AND ITS PEOPLE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE THE BEST CANVAS FOR FILM-MAKERS TO ROLL OUT THEIR ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE GENIUS.

IN THIS RESPECT, THE DURBAN FILM OFFICE HAS RECENTLY TIED UP STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE KWAZULU-NATAL FILM COMMISSION AND THE DURBAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY FILM COMMITTEE TO BOOST THE LOCAL FILM ENVIRONMENT.

BY NOW MANY OF YOU WOULD KNOW THAT DURBAN BOASTS A LEADING MOVIE MOGUL.

I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAYS WHEN ANANT SINGH AND INDIA’S PROLIFIC DIRECTOR OF THE ‘MIDDLE CINEMA’ SHYAM BENEGAL WILL JOIN FORCES TO COLLABORATE ON A FILM CHRONICLING THE MIGRATION OF INDIAN LABOURERS AND TRADERS TO DURBAN AND A STORYBOARD ENCOMPASSING 150 YEARS IN OUR VERY OWN STUDIO.

BORN AND BRED IN THE CITY WHERE THE FIRST BATCH OF INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURERS SET FOOT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1860, ANANT SINGH HAS BECOME DURBAN’S BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPORT.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT OUR FILM AMBASSADOR IS FORGING AHEAD WITH HIS PLANS TO LAUNCH A R40-MILLION OR SIX-MILLION US DOLLAR DURBAN FILM CITY ON THE DOORSTEP OF THE CITY’S GOLDEN MILE STRETCH OF BLUE-FLAGGED BEACH.

THIS MASSIVE PROJECT IS BOUND TO REVOLUTIONISE DURBAN INTO A MAJOR-LEAGUE CINEMA ENVIRONMENT.

THE BENEFITS ARE ENORMOUS FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING INVESTORS, AS THIS MODEL ROLLS OUT FOR A CITY THAT IS NOT NEW TO MOVIE-MAKING.

I AM REMINDED THAT IN 1909, ABOUT THE TIME GANDHIJI WAS CHANGING THE LOCAL LANDSCAPE; DURBAN WAS THE FIRST IN THE COLONIAL COUNTRY WITH A PERMANENT BUILDING FOR SCREENING MOTION PICTURES.

OUR HISTORY REVEALS THAT A CINEMA CALLED THE ELECTRIC THEATRE FILMED AND SCREENED THE NEWSREELS OF THE ANGLO-BOER WAR FROM 1889 TO 1902, RECORDING FOR THE FIRST TIME A WAR HAD BEEN FILMED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
THIS LED TO THE PRODUCTION OF TWO FILMS, ZULU AND ZULU DAWN, RANKED AS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FILMS MADE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

AS I SPEAK ANANT SINGH’S LATEST MOVIE, MR BONES 2 THAT WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN DURBAN WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR MUNICIPALITY IS A BOX-OFFICE HIT, TOPPING ALMOST R20 MILLION IN THE FIRST THREE WEEKS.

THE PREMIERE OF THIS DELIGHTFUL NEW EXPORT WAS HELD IN DURBAN, ANOTHER INDICATOR OF JUST HOW SERIOUS WE ARE TO TURN THE FILM INDUSTRY ON ITS HEAD.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DURBAN’S CINEMATIC WHEEL IS READY TO SPIN INTO A SUCCESS STORY.

BUT BEFORE THAT THE CITY OWES ITS NEW BENCHMARKING IN THE FILM INDUSTRY TO THE DURBAN FILM FESTIVAL.

NOW KNOWN AS THE DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN ITS 31ST YEAR, THE ORIGINAL DURBAN FILM CIRCLE PROVIDED A HOME FOR ALTERNATIVE FILM MAKING.

WHEN APARTHEID LAWS BLACKED OUT SCREENING OF FILMS AND PROHIBITED MIXED-RACE AUDIENCE, THE FILM CIRCLE SCREENED ART HOUSE MOVIES TO MULTIRACIAL PATRONS AT CAMPUS HALLS ON SUNDAY NIGHTS.

RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE IN THE 1980s, ACTIVISTS LOBBIED TO DEMOCRATISE THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY TO UNDERMINE APARTHEID PROPAGANDA.
DURING THIS ERA THE APARTHEID GOVERNMENT SUBSIDISED FILM-MAKING FOR ITS PROPAGANDA PURPOSE.

HOWEVER, TODAY, OUR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT HAS PUT IN PLACE A FILM AND PUBLICATIONS BOARD THAT MONITORS THE INDUSTRY, INCLUDING THE SPECTRUM OF THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY.

IN FACT, THE NEW GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS FILM-MAKING INITIATIVES AND INCENTIVES ARE OFFERED TO ENSURE THAT FILM-MAKERS CAN EVEN SHOOT LOW-BUDGET FILMS AGAINST OUR FASCINATING BACKDROPS, SIGHTS AND SOUNDS.

SINCE OUR MARCH TO FREEDOM IN 1994, WE HAVE MANY STORIES TO TELL AND DOCUMENT THEM VIA OUR FILM STUDIO IN THE MAKING.

DURBAN IS CENTRAL TO THE COLLECTIVE CONTRIBUTION OF FILM-MAKING, PROVIDING AFFORDABLE LABOUR AND INFRASTRUCTURE, AND DIVERSE CANVAS OF LOCATIONS SUITED FOR 320 DAYS OF SUNSHINE AND GOOD WEATHER.

I AM CONVINCED THAT DURBAN IS BECOMING A POPULAR LOCATION FOR INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS.

WITH DURBAN BOASTING THE BIGGEST AND LONGEST RUNNING INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN SOUTH AFRICA, I BELIEVE WE HAVE THE EXPERTISE, KNOW-HOW, PEOPLE AND LOCATIONS TO
ENSURE THAT THE REELS ARE READY TO ROLL.

I THEREFORE WISH TO ASSURE YOU THAT THE DURBAN FILM OFFICE HAS THE CAPACITY AND EXPERTISE TO FACILITATE MOVIE PRODUCTIONS RANGING FROM FULL-LENGTH FILMS TO DOCUMENTARIES AND ADVERTISING PRODUCTIONS FROM LOCAL TO WORLD BRANDS.

THROUGH THE FILMING OF TWO BOLLYWOOD PRODUCTIONS, DOOM 2 AND RACE, FEATURING AMONG THE BOLLYWOOD SCREEN LEGENDS, ASIHWARAYA RAI AND HRITHIK ROSHAN, DURBAN HAD PROVIDED ROAD CLOSURES AND FACILITIES FOR SOME SPECTACULAR STUNTS.

AS PART OF THE CITY’S 2020 VISION TO CREATE A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL OUR CITIZENS, DURBAN ENCOURAGES THE RECRUITMENT OF LOCAL EXTRAS AND STAFF, WHILE PROVIDING CATERING AND THE COST OF PRODUCTION FOR FOREIGN CAST AND CREWS.

WITHIN THE ENTERTAINMENT REALM, DURBAN OFFERS A WORLD-CLASS VENUE FOR LIVE INTERNATIONAL SHOWS AT THE MUNICIPAL-OWNED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE THAT HAS HOUSED HUNDREDS OF WORLD CONVENTIONS SINCE THE 1990S.

EVER SINCE INDIA’S ICONIC FILM LEGEND AMITABH BACHCHAN STAGED THE BIGGEST OPEN-AIR MUSIC CONCERT IN DURBAN, THE CITY HAS NEVER LOOKED BACKED AND HAS HOSTED SUPERSTARS RANGING FROM MICHAEL JACKSON TO UB40.

OUR NEW WORLD CUP STADIUM IS BEING DESIGNED TO HOST THE BIGGEST SHOWS FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE PROMOTERS TO BRING INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT TO DURBAN.

CLASSICAL MUSIC IS HUGELY POPULAR AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE BEST OF THE BHARAT-NATYAM AND KATHAK DANCERS PERFORMING FOR OUR CITIZENS.

THE CITY WOULD ENCOURAGE CULTURAL EXCHANGES IN INDIAN MUSIC AND DANCE INVOLVING OUR INDIAN AND AFRICAN STUDENTS.

MORE THAN EVER, WE NEED TO KEEP THE CULTURAL FLAME BURNING AND THIS COULD BE ENHANCED BY FORGING LINKS THROUGH DURBAN’S SISTER-CITY STATUS WITH CHENNAI AND OTHER INDIAN CITIES.

HAVING SKETCHED SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS AS TO WHY INDIA SHOULD BRING BOLLYWOOD OR ITS ENTERTAINMENT ACTS TO DURBAN LET ME SUPPORT MY BID TO OFFER DURBAN AS THE NEW FILM-MAKING AND ENTERTAINMENT MECCA TO THE WORLD.

· AS A SOCIALITE IN A CITY WHERE THE SUN NEVER SETS, I CAN TESTIFY THAT DURBAN HAS A MUSICAL SOIL FOR EVERYONE FROM MUSICOLOGISTS TO THE RHYTHMIC RAPPER TO LEAVE THEIR FOOTPRINTS.

· FIRSTLY, THE CITY CONTIUNUES TO POUR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO BRAND MARKETING DURBAN AS AN INTERNATIONAL TOURIST DESTINATION AND LANDMARK LOCATION SITUATED AS A GATEWAY INTO AFRICA.

· DURBAN IS ONE OF THE GREAT CITIES IN AFRICA, THE THIRD LARGEST IN SOUTH AFRICA, AND AN ECONOMIC HUB AND LINKAGE INTO SOUTHERN AFRICA.

· AS WE PREPARE FOR 2010, THE CITY IS ROLLING OUT MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURAL PROJECTS, INCLUDING OUR R1, 6 BILLION GIANT STADIUM WITH A SEATING CAPACITY OF 70 000.

· OUR INDIAN INVESTORS AND VISITORS CAN EXPECT TO TOUCH DOWN AT A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OVERLOOKING THE INDIAN OCEAN.

· TAKE MY WORD FOR IT THAT DURBAN OFFERS VISITORS, INVESTORS AND CITIZENS AN EXCITING GLIMPSE INTO A POSITIVE FUTURE.

· DURBAN’S COSMOPOLITAN PROFILING AND OUR SPECTRUM OF CULTURES, SIGHTS AND SOUNDS, AND AS WELL AS AUTHENTIC INDIAN, AFRICAN AND WESTERN CUISINES, AND HOMEGROWN HOSPITALITY, CONTRIBUTES TO SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL CULTURE.

· OUR TAGLINE, ONE CITY, MANY CULTURES, MAKES DURBAN A UNIQUE METROPOLIS WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AND BLENDS WITH INDIGENOUS AFRICAN CULTURE, RITUALS, SOCIAL COHESION, POLITICAL MATURITY AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT.
· IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION, THE CITY’S STREETS INTERSECTS WITH TEMPLES, MOSQUES, SYNAGOGUES, CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS.
· THE CITY THRIVES ON PROMOTING INTER-FAITH ACTIVITIES, HARMONY, PEACE AND TOLERANCE.
· AS A MULTICULTURAL REALITY, RELIGION IN DURBAN IS A DYNAMIC MELTING POT OF BELIEFS, THEOLOGIES AND RITUALS.
· AS A YOUNG DEMOCRACY, DURBAN HAS A PROGRESSIVE CITY GOVERNMENT THAT CELEBRATES DIVERSITY THAT IS THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE.
· THE CITY’S DOMINANT ECONOMIC FACTORS INCLUDE TOURISM, FOOD AND BEVERAGES, AUTOMOBILE AND AUTOMBILE COMPONENTS, NON-FERROUS METAL AND PULP AND PAPER.
· DURBAN IS ACREATIVE BASTION IN THE SUN FOR TO SOME OF THE WORLD RENOWNED ARTISTS, WRITERS AND PERFORMERS.
· THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY IS PROPELLED BY A 2020 VISION TO MAKE DURBAN AFRICA’S MOST CARING AND LIVABLE CITY WHERE ALL CITIZENS AND WILL LIVE IN HARMONY.
· IT IS BOLD ECONOMIC INITIATIVES, PARTICULARLY TOURISM, FILM-MAKING AND ENTERTAINMENT, THAT WILL ENABLE THE CITY TO ACHIEVE THIS MEDIUM-TERM GOAL OF PROVIDING A WORLD-CLASS CITY AND A HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL OUR CITIZENS, VISITORS AND INVESTORS.
· WE ARE STRIVING TO BECOME A SAFER AND SUSTAINABLE CITY.
FINALLY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I THANK YOU FOR BEING AN ATTENTIVE AUDIENCE AND I INVITE YOU TO ENGAGE ME TO EXPLORE ANY OPPORTUNITIES YOU MAY WISH TO PURSUE WITH DURBAN AND ITS PEOPLE.
ALL THAT’S LEFT ME TO DO IS TO WELCOME YOU TO DURBAN, AN AFRICAN JEWEL AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.
I THANK YOU.
____________________________________________________
Presentation Paper researched and written by Marlan Padayachee GreenGold Africa Communications on behalf of the Deputy Mayor of the City of Durban, eThekwini Municipality, South Africa, on the occasion of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai, India, 7-9 January 2009: greengold@telkomsa.net+00 27 31 266 5599/ 083 796 1762

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - Indians Ahead of 150 Years in South Africa

Indians in South Africa: Let’s Bridge the Identity Crisis

Indian South Africans or South Africans of Indian origin? Indians first or South Africans second? MARLAN PADAYACHEE tosses the coin on this perennial identity crisis issue facing the one-million strong Indians in South Africa and glances at two sides of the coin as this colourful community prepares to celebrate 150 years in Africa in 2010.

BY THIS TIME next year, South Africa’s unique Indian community may set off a plethora of projects to celebrate 150 years of co-existence in Africa, a far cry from the country many still fondly refer to as the Motherland or Thai Nadu.

While older generations remain emotional and sentimental about traditional and historical ties with Mother India, the younger generation looks to established democracies for job opportunities and a modern lifestyle without the colonial-apartheid baggage.

On the flipside, just how will the hybrid of indentured labourers and traders fuse this celebration into a continental psyche, heralding the first kick off of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa that is bound to throw Africa into euphoric explosion of football frenzy?

When the British Raj ruled India, agriculturally skilled locals were shipped to the colonies of Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius and South Africa to turn sugar cane plantations into new local economies for the imperial rulers.

Peasants, faced with poverty in the sub-continent, were lured to Africa as indentured labour via the colonial expansion and worked on the railways, mines, agriculture and domestic service.

Ever since the SS Truro dropped anchor in Durban Bay on 16 November 1860, shiploads of semi-skilled slaves, professional people and merchants were ferried to South Africa, with the economic migration subsiding at the beginning of the 20th century.

While the semi-slaves transformed the green fields into gold for their masters, the traders, craftsmen and fortune-seekers gave Indians the economic face on this side of the Indian Ocean Rim.

However, one visionary, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, changed the complexion of how Indians, both the underclass and the businessmen, would map out their survival strategy within the context of racism, oppression and social, economic and political impediments and the wholesale discrimination of indigenous African people.

In a 20-million strong Indian Diaspora, what makes this community stand out?

The “uniqueness” tag was earned through the stoical nature of the migrants and their work ethos, resilience in the face of adversity and the collective contribution to getting rid of their colonial-apartheid leg irons for a dream of a democratic state alongside their African compatriots.

Nowhere in the world had Indians sacrificed so much for so many people to enjoy freedom, social justice and human rights. That’s what makes this clan with a common culture cut above the rest in the global community.

On the other side of the coin, the grass is not greener for majority of the working class Indians.

While the community has become a formidable minority bloc, enjoying more social cohesion, inter-race integration, economic advantages and equal political status and voting rights, and they continue to play an influential role in business and politics, the majority of the descendants of the slaves have been left behind by the remarkable transition from apartheid to democracy.

The political transition has led to Indians marginalising themselves from the mainstream of the economically empowered black bloc, a sharp contrast to the days of Indian resistance against apartheid.

Precisely, this largely working class sector, estimated at almost 800 000 in KwaZulu-Natal, the birthplace of Indians, has to be brought up to speed to celebrate 150 years of Indians in 2010 South Africa.

Politically, the Indian vote, important as it may be in the national ballot, is split between India’s traditional allies, the African National Congress, and a coterie of opposition parties, including one by dissidents from the ruling elite. But then again, Indians, conservative by nature, tend to blow hot and cold or put place bets in the political roulettes.
Almost a century and a half later, it is arguable whether Indians have assimilated into the national heartbeat of the rainbow republic.

There is about 1, 3 million Asians in South Africa, almost two per cent of a population of 46 million, mostly of Indian origin.

People who arrived since the 1860s from colonial India are termed Indian South African. Even before the birth of the Global People of Indian Origin (Gopio), reference was made to South African of Indian origin.

Through its involvement in the political resistance emerged new terms like Indian African or African Indian.

Given the sentimental journey, emotional blood lines and poignant history of trial and tribulation culminating in the triumphal spirit of humanity, the identity crisis poses a post-apartheid challenge to the community. This may persist for a long time to come.

However, descriptions, terminology, classification and racial profiling apart, what’s important now is that the Diaspora cousins are finding each other through platforms like the trading partnership between Durban and Delhi, the India-Brazil-South Africa pact, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Gopio and other initiatives.

Maybe, an era of looming celebration calls for us to move beyond an identity crisis. After all, we now live in a global village with universal challenges of hopes and deferred dreams.

Significantly, Chennai is the home of this global gathering, where almost 150 years ago, the first batch of intrepid indentured labourers, mainly Tamil and Telugu-speaking Indians from the Madras Presidency, had pushed back the frontier into Africa.

Today, their legacy lives in the hearts and minds of a community that can count as enterprising and industrious ethnic group under the African sun, where non-racialism, social and economic co-existence and peace and solidarity shines on the horizon of hope.

It’s time to put our best foot forward ahead of 2010.


The writer, Marlan Padayachee, a British Council Fellow and recipient of the USIS International Visitor’s Award, is a seasoned journalist, former anti-apartheid activist, political commentator and media communications strategist, who covered President Nelson Mandela’s historic State visit to India in 1995, and he continues to keep a close interest on Indian issues. He is the Managing Editor of GreenGold Africa Communications in South Africa: greengold@telkomsa.net +00 27 31 266 5599.