The lingering trauma of indenture: femicide, homosexuality and bestiality

SEX within the Indian community is frequently a controversial subject.

- KIRU NAIDOO. SELVAN NAIDOO

The enduring impact of colonialism, indenture and apartheid continues to influence the many lives of South African descendants of indentured workers. Despite significant strides, challenges related to socioeconomic disparities and social mobility persist for many parts of this community.

Thirty-one years into South Africa’s democracy, the community of Indian ancestry continues to navigate multiple identities that pose unique challenges, often leading to complex feelings of belonging. The historical trauma of the indentured experience lingers in various ways that affect psychological and physical well-being beyond the 165 years since the first indentured workers arrived to their African homes on November 16, 1860.

Hugh Tinker, author of the seminal study, “New System of Slavery...” argues that slavery left a legacy that the colonial and imperialist powers had no real interest in overcoming.

“A convincing case can be made that indenture reproduced the actual conditions of slavery. Physical labour was favoured over mechanisation. Indenture was characterised by intense violence, including summary physical, psychological and economic punishments. Women were especially vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation. Freedom of movement was heavily constrained, even when passes could be obtained. The disproportionate number of women created unstable relationships, social ills and immense difficulty in creating family life.”

Recruiters frequently struggled to meet the quota, and many women who were recruited did so to escape difficult situations in India, such as widowhood or poverty. The resulting extreme sexual imbalance was a source of great social strain in the new settlements.

These social strains are horrifically evidenced by the brutal murder of 29-year-old Josoda Dayal, indentured number 104978, in 1907, mined from the colonial archive through our research.