Strengthening South Africa-India ties: Focus on heritage and community

SOUTH Africa's High Commissioner to India, Professor Anil Sooklal, has shed light on the evolving bilateral relationship between the two nations, focusing on significant developments that directly impact the Indian diaspora in South Africa and the wider global Girmitiya community.

- THOBEKA NGEMA

Professor Sooklal outlined expanded Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card access for South African Indians and updated the push for a monument honouring indentured labourers at Madras port. He also announced India’s plans for a World Girmitiya Centre and an inaugural conference.

Sooklal said that India established a unique relationship with Indians who left under British rule as indentured labourers, the Girmitiya, which is how the beginnings of an Indian community in South Africa took root from 1860 onwards. These labourers were sent to various parts of the British Empire, including the Caribbean, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, and Mauritius, primarily for sugar plantations.

Sooklal said Indians who left voluntarily as economic migrants are called nonresident Indians and retain Indian nationality and voting rights.

In contrast, Girmitiyas lost Indian citizenship upon India’s independence. However, the Indian government sought a formal relationship with them and created the OCI card. OCI status requires proof of Indian ancestry.