BARE FACTS: A Zulu community march to highlight their poor living conditions

In August, as youngsters Clive Pillay, Louis Govender and Sandy Pillay hung out at a cricket stadium in Durban, they were beaten, stabbed and shot dead.

In July, farmer Kesavan Govender was shot dead in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal province, when gunmen raided his farm. Another farmer was seriously injured.

In May, Ismael Ahmed-the Indian owner of a supermarket in Durban-was shot dead when gunmen stormed in, reportedly with robbery as the motive.

Following the spate of murders recently in the Indian community in Durban, KwaZulu Natal province, an ugly question has raised its head: are these seemingly unrelated incidents just a rise on the crime charts, or are they a series of race-related, hate crimes? More than 20 Indians have been reported killed in separate incidents in the past few months in this region.

THE CAUSE

"Oh my fellow brothers. We need strong and brave men to confront Indians." Controversial lyrics from Mbongeni Ngema's Amandiya

THE EFFECT

Lovisha Persad, 14, was abducted near Durban in September as she stepped out to the local grocer's shop. Her body was later found, sexually assaulted and with over 100 stab wounds. She was one of those who paid the price for a perception among black Africans that the success of the Indian community has come at their cost. Such incidents have mobilised a public call to reinstate the death penalty.

Fuelling the fire is the controversy surrounding a song released earlier this year by songwriter and playwright, Mbongeni Ngema. The lyrics of the song titled Amandiya (Indians) suggest that South African blacks are mistreated and exploited by Indians. The lyrics include: Oh brothers, oh my fellow brothers. We need strong and brave men to confront Indians. This situation is very difficult, Indians do not want to change, whites were far better than Indians. Even Mandela has failed to convince them to change ... Indians have conquered Durban-we are poor because all things have been taken by Indians ...
The song adds that they also "keep coming from India" to South Africa.

The Indian community perceives the recent rise in crime to be linked with racism, says Raj Govender, head of the Indian Documentation Centre in Durban. "The layman, people in temples and Indians everywhere believe the killings are racially motivated or a spin-off from Ngema's song. The community is becoming paranoid ... and the perception that we are under threat is growing," he says.

The song, which a court order restricts for under 18s, has outraged the community leaders. Tholsiah "TP" Naidoo, veteran leader of the community and director of the Indian Academy of South Africa, says the crime against Indians in KwaZulu Natal have spiralled out of control. "The main victims of major crimes, such as murder, rapes and robberies are Indians. This has been provoked by the song-an out and out racist attack," he charges.

Ngema is unrepentant about the song. In an interview in May, Ngema said that the views of black people who gathered at taxi and bus ranks, at soccer matches and other places were expressed in the song. "I believe it is my role as an artist ... to mirror the society and highlight the plight of the people on the ground. The leadership relies on us artists to voice issues where there is perceived oversight," he said at the time.

Naidoo rues that Ngema's song ignores reality. "Indians and Africans worked side by side at the turn of the century when they were labourers on sugarcane fields. They enjoy a camaraderie that Ngema never knew or willingly chose to overlook," he says.

The song seems to have reopened old wounds that date back to 1949-the infamous Cato Manor riots when Africans attacked Indians in a bloody January weekend. The fear that evoked has never really died, passing down generations. With the release of this song, however, and the subsequent violence that is being linked to it, the Indian and African communities are polarised sparking fears of a repeat of racial clashes.

However, there are sections among the Indians that believe the attacks are crime without race overtones. Police spokesman Bala Naidoo insists that compared to the same period a year ago, crime has dropped but the level of reporting has gone up because of the gruesome murders. "The media plays a key role in developing perceptions. When they report on violent crimes, people take more notice," reiterates Naidoo. He maintains that police investigations have shown there is no link between the murders and Ngema. Furthermore, he adds, crime affects not only Indians-it is a national problem.

Logie Naidoo of the African National Congress, who is deputy mayor of Durban, also feels the recent murders have less to do with racial motivation and more about crime. "Criminal acts are not taking place in Indian areas alone, but in former white and even African residences," he claims.

Public outcry following the spurt in crime has resulted in several calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty. Cyril Naidoo, medical doctor and a community leader, says that while Indians are being targeted for their apparent passive disposition, crime is a national problem affecting people of all races. "The sad thing," he says, "is that the criminal justice system, for some strange reason, remains steadfast in the view that capital punishment is out and that criminals would enjoy the same rights as anyone in society. As long as we have a lenient criminal justice system, the problems will not be addressed adequately," he stresses.

The debate is moving on to propose a national summit on crime. Sociologist Devi Rajab feels that such a summit should address issues like ethics, poverty and morality, which could reduce acts of violent crime, which is beyond race. "Crime reflects total disregard for another human being's life. If we want to build a wholesome nation, it is imperative that we make every citizen secure," she says.

KwaZulu Natal's minister of agriculture, Narend Singh of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
has led the call for reinstating death penalty. "Statistics have shown that murders remain unacceptably high. Criminals involved in car hijacking and robbery continue to cause unprovoked fatalities," says Singh who has written to the South African Law Commission requesting them for a public debate around the issue. "Surveys since 1999 show that South Africans, irrespective of race, creed or colour, are anxious about crime and believe death penalty is an option."

Agreeing that "blacks too are being robbed, raped and murdered", Amichand Rajbansi, leader of the Minority Front, said the factor fuelling resentment among Africans is Indian support to white minority political parties. In the country's first democratic election in 1994, 65 per cent of Indians voted for parties that Rajbansi describes as "an oppressive minority".

Public figures are doing their bit to keep racial emotions in rein. Last month in an address
to the Indian community, IFP President and Minister of Home Affairs, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said: "The Indian community has something to offer which is unfailingly a character trait of the Indian people ... within this community lives a spirit of industriousness we desperately need."

A few months earlier, a black African woman approached President Mandela at a public function, and said the Indian community had created a "little Israel for itself" in South Africa. Much to the comfort of the Indians, Mandela chided the woman for her arrogance.