The Magazine Barracks, was an area in Durban, South Africa, that housed Indian labourers, who worked for the Durban Corporation (the municipality of Durban, now absorbed into the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality), and their families. Built in 1880, close to the centre of Durban, it had a population of up to 6 000 people at times, living in 1251 rooms[1], and living conditions were regarded as "wretched" due to an unwillingness of the authorities to upgrade the area. [2]
As part of the implementation of apartheid policies, including the Group Areas Act, Indians were removed from the Magazine Barracks, and resettled in areas including Chatsworth, which were much further from the city cente of Durban[3].
Located next to the magazine barracks, was a similar black African labour compound called Baumannville [1].
The site of the Magazine Barracks is now the location of the Durban Magistrates Court and police headquarters[4]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_Barracks,_Durban
Friday, September 30, 2011
Cato Manor, Durban
Cato Manor is a working class area located seven kilometers from Durban's city centre.
It was formed when Indian market gardeners came to settle in the area some time after it was given to George Christopher Cato in 1865, who was the first mayor of Durban in 1854. The area attracted attention during the Apartheid era.
Hisrory
Cato Manor became recognised when the Black Africans came to settle in during the 1920s, and rented land from Indian landlords who were there since the early 1900s. To earn a living, people started brewing beer and selling it in the streets of Durban to the thirsty workers. The authorities were glad to have people in town for labour but were scared to be overwhelmed by their population. They then started the so called Durban system which required permits from people who were in town to restrict the influx of population. The authorities then instituted the Native Beer Act of 1908, which allowed the municipality to brew and sell beer for self-finance. That became a success and the municipality reaped huge profits which meant that anyone brewing illegally was arrested. That started a dispute between the authorities and the people which led to people rioting due to their loss of making a living. Towards the end of World War II about 30,000 squatters had built their shacks in the place, which started even bigger riots between 1949 and 1950 when the Group Areas Act was passed on by the government. People were now forced to move from the place to townships like KwaMashu and the Indians moved to places like Chatsworth and Phoenix. On The 23 January 1960 an angry mob attacked 4 white and 5 black policemen at the Cato Manor Police station; they butchered the men and mutilated the bodies. The mutilated bodies, with genitals stuffed in their mouths, were then dragged through the streets by the mob. The tumult eventually died after 1964 when the place was deserted.
Cato Manor Today
The area began to come to life again in the early 1980s when the Cato Manor Development Association (CMDA) was formed and delivered much needed infrastructure. The area then was funded by the European Union and the Cato Manor Area Based Management was instituted by the eThekwini Municipality to overseeing the development of the area. Cato Manor today has a primary schools, a clinic, a market and a multi-purpose center and talks for new places of interest are underway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_Manor
It was formed when Indian market gardeners came to settle in the area some time after it was given to George Christopher Cato in 1865, who was the first mayor of Durban in 1854. The area attracted attention during the Apartheid era.
Hisrory
Cato Manor became recognised when the Black Africans came to settle in during the 1920s, and rented land from Indian landlords who were there since the early 1900s. To earn a living, people started brewing beer and selling it in the streets of Durban to the thirsty workers. The authorities were glad to have people in town for labour but were scared to be overwhelmed by their population. They then started the so called Durban system which required permits from people who were in town to restrict the influx of population. The authorities then instituted the Native Beer Act of 1908, which allowed the municipality to brew and sell beer for self-finance. That became a success and the municipality reaped huge profits which meant that anyone brewing illegally was arrested. That started a dispute between the authorities and the people which led to people rioting due to their loss of making a living. Towards the end of World War II about 30,000 squatters had built their shacks in the place, which started even bigger riots between 1949 and 1950 when the Group Areas Act was passed on by the government. People were now forced to move from the place to townships like KwaMashu and the Indians moved to places like Chatsworth and Phoenix. On The 23 January 1960 an angry mob attacked 4 white and 5 black policemen at the Cato Manor Police station; they butchered the men and mutilated the bodies. The mutilated bodies, with genitals stuffed in their mouths, were then dragged through the streets by the mob. The tumult eventually died after 1964 when the place was deserted.
Cato Manor Today
The area began to come to life again in the early 1980s when the Cato Manor Development Association (CMDA) was formed and delivered much needed infrastructure. The area then was funded by the European Union and the Cato Manor Area Based Management was instituted by the eThekwini Municipality to overseeing the development of the area. Cato Manor today has a primary schools, a clinic, a market and a multi-purpose center and talks for new places of interest are underway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_Manor
History of Chatsworth
Chatsworth, is a large Indian township in Durban, South Africa, which was created as a result of the Apartheid Government's Group Areas Act. This area, created in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was populated by those removed from their homes in mixed-race and whites-only areas. Because of this, parts of Chatsworth are still an area of extreme poverty separated from the developed areas of Durban. However there are also large middle class and wealthy areas.
Chatsworth today comprise an overall area with 64 minor suburbs, of which Lamontville at the East, now also is a part. With the neighbour township to the East being Durban South, the borderline of Chatsworth is situated just 4km from the Indian Ocean. The southern border of the township, is drawn by the river from Ntshongweni Dam, with Umlazi being situated at the southern side of the river. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth,_Durban
History
In the 1940s, The Pegging Acts and the Ghetto Act were passed. These acts gave the government the right to remove and destroy shacks and small self-made shelters, with the intention of improving sanitary conditions. This led to the Group Areas Act of June 1950, which designated certain areas for the Whites and other areas for Indians, Coloureds and Africans. Indians were removed from areas such as Mayville, Cato Manor, the Clairwood and Magazine Barracks and the Bluff, and were placed in areas like Riverside and Prospect Hall and at Duikerfontein and Sea Cow Lake.
During the later 1940s and early 1950s, there were advertisements in the papers of an exclusively Indian suburb, Umhlatuzana. Later Silverglen and Red Hill were also developed. Then in the early 1960s Chatsworth was planned, opening in 1964 and consisting of eleven neighborhood units. Modern day Chatsworth has 64 suburbs that fall within its region. Chatsworth was deliberately built to act as buffer between white residential areas and the large African township of Umlazi.
Current Situation
As a consequence of its history, Chatsworth still has a predominantly Indian population. It is a centre of Indian culture, and holds the Temple of Understanding - a Hindu temple. Many Indians from Tamil and Telugu backgrounds are present. Such Indian Languages are still spoken at home in many instances, with classes set up to aid in their development.
This area is now a fully fledged suburb of Durban and boasts industrial development with strong infrastructure and has contributed to the growing intellectual capital and business environment of Durban, while at the same time housing evictions of "unwanted" residents and the disconnection of water and electrical utilities plagues those who cannot afford them due to the high unemployment rate.
In around 2000 the flats in two areas of Chatsworth, Bayview and Westcliffe, were briefly the centre of a small social movement known as "the poors," because the developing infrastructure had missed the poorest of the population, and the loss of manufacturing jobs due to the economic liberalization program of self-imposed Structural Adjustment Policies known as GEAR, had increased the economic problems of Chatsworth's poorest residents. However in recent local government elections residents from these areas have supported the narrow ethnic politics of Amichand Rajbansi's Minority Front party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth,_Durban
Chatsworth today comprise an overall area with 64 minor suburbs, of which Lamontville at the East, now also is a part. With the neighbour township to the East being Durban South, the borderline of Chatsworth is situated just 4km from the Indian Ocean. The southern border of the township, is drawn by the river from Ntshongweni Dam, with Umlazi being situated at the southern side of the river. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth,_Durban
History
In the 1940s, The Pegging Acts and the Ghetto Act were passed. These acts gave the government the right to remove and destroy shacks and small self-made shelters, with the intention of improving sanitary conditions. This led to the Group Areas Act of June 1950, which designated certain areas for the Whites and other areas for Indians, Coloureds and Africans. Indians were removed from areas such as Mayville, Cato Manor, the Clairwood and Magazine Barracks and the Bluff, and were placed in areas like Riverside and Prospect Hall and at Duikerfontein and Sea Cow Lake.
During the later 1940s and early 1950s, there were advertisements in the papers of an exclusively Indian suburb, Umhlatuzana. Later Silverglen and Red Hill were also developed. Then in the early 1960s Chatsworth was planned, opening in 1964 and consisting of eleven neighborhood units. Modern day Chatsworth has 64 suburbs that fall within its region. Chatsworth was deliberately built to act as buffer between white residential areas and the large African township of Umlazi.
Current Situation
As a consequence of its history, Chatsworth still has a predominantly Indian population. It is a centre of Indian culture, and holds the Temple of Understanding - a Hindu temple. Many Indians from Tamil and Telugu backgrounds are present. Such Indian Languages are still spoken at home in many instances, with classes set up to aid in their development.
This area is now a fully fledged suburb of Durban and boasts industrial development with strong infrastructure and has contributed to the growing intellectual capital and business environment of Durban, while at the same time housing evictions of "unwanted" residents and the disconnection of water and electrical utilities plagues those who cannot afford them due to the high unemployment rate.
In around 2000 the flats in two areas of Chatsworth, Bayview and Westcliffe, were briefly the centre of a small social movement known as "the poors," because the developing infrastructure had missed the poorest of the population, and the loss of manufacturing jobs due to the economic liberalization program of self-imposed Structural Adjustment Policies known as GEAR, had increased the economic problems of Chatsworth's poorest residents. However in recent local government elections residents from these areas have supported the narrow ethnic politics of Amichand Rajbansi's Minority Front party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth,_Durban
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