Chatsworth is a large township created by the apartheid government in the 1950s to segregate the Indian population and create a buffer between the white suburbs to the north and the black townships to the south. Located in the SouthDurban basin and roughly bordered by the Umhlatuzana River in the North and Umlaas River in the south, the township is undergoing a rapid integration of blacks and Indians.
History
In the 1940s, the Pegging Acts and the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act, 1946 were passed. These acts gave the government the right to remove and destroy shacks and small self-made shelters, with the putative intention of improving sanitary conditions. This led to the Group Areas Act of June 1950 being enforced directly by the Government, in which certain residential areas were designated for Whites, Indians, Coloureds, and Africans only. Indians were removed from areas such as Mayville, Cato Manor, Clairwood, Magazine Barracks, Bluff, Riverside, Prospect Hall, Duikerfontein, and Sea Cow Lake. They were forcibly moved into the two townships of Phoenix, which are situated North of Durban, and Chatsworth in the South. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were advertisements in papers for an exclusively Indian town, Umhlatuzana. This progressed into the greater Chatsworth District in the early 1960s when planning commenced and official movements took place in 1964 to the eleven units: Unit 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and Unit 11. Modern day Chatsworth is spread over seven municipal wards which all fall roughly in the South Central municipal area. The intentional buffer design of Chatsworth creates today an interesting melting pot of people frequenting Chatsworth's business district which comprises a bustling center, The Chatsworth Center.
Education
South Africa's Indian population, culturally has placed an emphasis on education during times when Apartheid Laws prevented intellectual and material development of non-white races, believing only whites were capable of enquiry of the mathematic and scientific fields. As a result of resistance, the Indian population has excelled academically and have produced many academics who are former inhabitants of Chatsworth. Most secondary schools in Chatsworth boast pass rates above 90 per cent for the Matric Examinations despite lacking resources and facilities. Apollo Secondary School, Southlands Secondary School and Kharwastan Secondary School regularly produce learners that are placed in the provincial Top 30.
Indian people in Chatsworth are from various religious groups. Many masjids, temples, and churches are present. One of many famous masjids is Habibia Manzil in Shallcross. 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 learning classes set up to aid in their development. This area has developed into a fully fledged post apartheid suburb of the Durban Ethekwini Municipality.
