Indian South Africans are leading the Country

We came here as slaves, Rob. Only 165 years, we went from slaves to captains of industry. You did a podcast with Lotta saying Indian employers are the worst in the country.

I remember that. And that I'm a Neanderthal.

We are sitting with immense talent in our community, Indian community, and we've just thrown them aside. We have pushed them into the rubbish heap. Right now, Rob, even for the white community and African people watching this, KZN, Chatswood Phoenix are the poster child for the Rainbow Nation. We coexist every day.

Because of Gavin Gordon and people like that, the ANC has taken the Indian community for granted. And I think you know it and you've been saying it. And, you know, when it comes to BEE, the Indian South Africans and the colored South Africans are not black enough. You're not getting the benefit of it. So you have identified that you're not happy with it. Where did— tell us what 1860 means and then lead us into your political career. For the viewers that don't know why you put 1860 on your shirt, I know.

So 1860 is the year the first indentured laborers arrived in South Africa. The 16th of November, 1860. By the way, Rob, my party launched. In 2024, 16th November 2024. On the very same day, it was momentous, it was historic, it was significant. I made it happen on that day, 16th November, when our forefathers landed here on the shores of this country, came here. And a lot of people need to know this. You know, they say the Indian community has got, they were put on a pedestal or they were more. We came here as slaves, Rob. If you look at something, if you look at South Africa now, when we were in Durban, and there's a ship leaving to some foreign country, you won't jump on that ship. It'd be the poorest of the poor, the people who got nothing, the people who need a chance, the people— you won't leave your family. So the people who jumped on that ship really had nothing to lose. They had nothing. They were taking a chance. So that means we didn't come here with the brightest sparks. We didn't come here with the most intelligent people. We came with average human beings. Who came here to cut the sugarcane. They didn't even know each other. They were strangers put together. And now, only 165 years, we went from slaves to captains of industry, to the best in the medical field, to the best in the accounting field, some of the best attorneys, some of the best magistrates. And the reason I'm saying that, and even, and I'm going to say this now, I'm going to speak to the African community if I may say. I'm not saying this to put you down or tell you where you fail. I'm saying we have a model. If the model works, Rob, from a business point of view, if a businessman wants to do a business, should ask you, what did you do? What did your family do? How did you get there? Follow the model. From, if you want to build South Africa and Indians around the world are successful, ask yourself, what is the model? The model is you work hard, you study, you push yourself. Beyond. You don't accept second best. You keep striving. You keep pushing. I mean, right now, the matric results in KZN, top 10, 5 Indian students in the top 10, 11 Indian students in the top 20 in the country. It didn't just happen. It's a DNA. It's inbred in us to achieve, to succeed, to push. And if it comes to politics in the country again, We are sitting with immense talent in our community, Indian community, and we've just thrown them aside. We have pushed them into the rubbish heap because we feel they don't contribute to this country. For my election, and they said to me, they all laughed. They said, what would you do? You know, I told them about how service delivery is failing. I said, if I was in, I'll employ my connections from Phoenix and Chatsworth. So they laughed. It was meant to be a joke. But my connections from Phoenix and Chatsworth are qualified electricians. Qualified plumbers, qualified carpenters, but they're sitting at home. The guy who's fixing the pipe on the road is unqualified. His boss is unqualified. Hence, hence the pipe is breaking. They're breaking again. So that's, that's what I'm saying. We're sitting on this talent.

Karu, I need to ask you, because recently somebody, and I don't know who, made that terrible comment that Indians should go back to India. Tell us what, what that was all about. Why is she, I think it was a she, why she said it and you know, and you stood up bravely and correctly against that terrible comment. But tell us the story.

But if I may say, Rob, the person was only caught on camera. There are many others. There's a lot more. It's endemic. It's a problem. It's a problem. She was caught on camera. And by the way, last year, just over a year ago, a sitting city councillor in the ANC in Ithekwini, said the same thing to a DA Indian councillor, go back to Bombay. An ANC sitting councillor, to this date, they haven't identified him. So it's a problem. By the way, in 2020 or something, Jessie Duarte was, she said the ANC is tribalistic and racist towards Indian people. She said it. She was inside the NEC and she said ANC is tribalistic. They call Indians amakulas. ANC members. It's not a once-off thing. It's something that's endemic. And it's something that we as a community, and me, I fight on a daily basis. If you remember our friend Penwell, he did a podcast with Notta saying Indian employers are the worst in the country.

I remember that. And that I'm a Neanderthal.

So I challenged him on that. It's the same thing like saying, African people are the biggest criminals in the country because the prison is full of them. No, by population-wise, 80% of the population, 80% would be there. 2% will be Indian. In KZN, majority of employers are Indian. So if you're going to come across an employer, you're going to come across an Indian employer. And if you only listen to one part of the story, employers always bitch and moan about not being treated well. But nobody speaks from the other side about how you are not doing your job properly. Or you're not conforming to what is asked of you. So I felt that it was a very unfair blanket statement to make about the Indian community. And it perpetuated this racism narrative, which continues to affect us as a community. Might I add, Rob, in case it ain't— I'm not sure how much of time you spent here. The Indian, the system was made as follows. There'll be an African community. There'll be an Indian community. And then there would be the white community. It was set out like that. So we were the buffers. We are the buffer. We take the knock from the African community. It's like this across the road. The guy's got a shack and no water. You across the road, you got a house with an awning and a car. You can see the disparity, but we are the first people on the firing line. Why do you think July 2020 unrest, it was not the white hit. It was predominantly the Indian area that got hit. Yeah. And that's how it is set up. And for sure, there's going to be conflict. But I must say the same as well. You know, the 2021 unrest and people spoke about racism in Indian community. How then racism doesn't appear once in 50 years? If it's endemic, it'll manifest itself in numerous ways. Right now, Rob, even for the white community and African group watching this, KZN, Chatswood, Phoenix are the poster child for the rainbow nation. We coexist every day from schooling to shopping malls, every aspect of life we coexist. Of course, there'll be problems, but historically there's not been racial issues. So how come one dark day in 2021 it became a racist issue? Whereas every day African community, Indian community lives side by side in KZN. How is it that only one day you choose to say It was a racist issue. If there's a fire in informal settlement, Rob, the first responder is the Indian community. If there's a flood, the first responder is the Indian community. Every week there are feeding schemes where the Indian community is— there's a thing we call Seva in our Hindu community. Seva means service to God. It means you go out and you do this work. It's voluntary. It's humanitarianism. There's no cost to it. You do a thing called Seva. It's your own thing to cleanse your heart, to make your peace with God, to go give free meals, offer things out. Every week, temples, mosques, churches are doing Seva in the same community that they say we are racist towards. And that's the biggest myth, it's the biggest lie being spread by people who want to divide us here on the ground. Because we are the first responders. We are the ones who look after them. We are the ones who have the best interest.