A legacy of conscience and community: the historic journey of the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society

THERE can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.

- Professor Dasarath Chetty

This profound assertion by Nelson Mandela serves as the most fitting lens through which to view the 72-year history of the Durban Indian Child and Family Welfare Society (DICFWS).

From its inception in 1927 to its amalgamation with the formerly “white” child welfare society in 1999, the society was far more than a charitable organisation; it was the manifestation of a community's soul, a direct and powerful response to a state that, by design, neglected and oppressed its children of colour.

Its story is a microcosm of the Indian community's broader struggle for dignity, rights and survival in South Africa.

The history of the DICFWS, which would later become the Child, Family and Community Care Centre of Durban (CFCCCD) in 1991, is one of relentless innovation born out of necessity.

In a political and economic system that was exploitative and inhumane, the society understood that child welfare could not be addressed in a vacuum.

It recognised that the need for support stemmed not from individual failings, but from profound social deficits created by an oppressive state.

This holistic conception of welfare the belief that a child’s well-being is intimately interconnected with the health of their family, community and political environment was the philosophical foundation of the organisation.

The very formation of the DICFWS was an act of political defiance.

The colonial and later apartheid state offered only a “residual” approach to welfare for “nonwhites”, a system that intervenes as a last resort and inherently blames the victim for their circumstances.

In stark contrast, the state provided an “institutional” framework for its white citizens, viewing welfare as a necessary and ongoing function of a modern society.