Durban - The 150th anniversary of indentured Indian labour coming to Natal now has a special place in Dundee’s Talana Museum.
There is now a board telling about the local chapter of that story and somewhere in the area, covered by overgrowth, are the remains of a Hindu temple. A picture of it in this state dominates the board, alongside similar pictures of the first school for Indian children as well as one of the barracks for Indian and black mine workers.
Talana Museum opened 34 years ago to commemorate the Anglo-Zulu War. Since then, new topics that offer insight into British, Boer, Zulu, San and Indian influences in the area, along with mining, have enriched the museum.
It’s set on the slope of a hill and the attractions are scattered. At one spot where one may enjoy a break from walking around is a shady shelter, surrounded by benches made from railway sleepers. In the centre is a bust of Mohandas Gandhi, sculpted in India and donated to the museum by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
Another fairly recent-looking addition is a plaque “in remembrance of the Zulus in the region of Mzinyathi who found themselves at war and the men who helped both the Boers and the British”.
Mining and war seem to be the main features of the museum. Equipment used over the past century to haul coal from mines in the area decorates the grounds.
A section of the graveyard remembers soldiers who fell during the Battle of Talana Hill on October 20, 1899, which marked the beginning of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Above the stone crosses fly four flags: the Vierkleur alongside that of the local Endumeni municipality, and the British flag alongside the current South African flag.
Inside the Henderson Hall, which houses glass works and beadwork displays, is a gallery that gives one the feeling of being down a coal mine.
One of the displays that drew my eye is that of the token system introduced to retain a permanent labour force.
New miners would arrive, already in debt for their cash advances and rail fares. They were issued tokens to buy basic necessities – a blanket, a billycan and boots. Kept on the debt treadmill, by the time they were ready to go home for a break, they simply had to stay on the mine to earn more.
The reason this display stood out for me was that it rang bells about debt and mining: the link between money-lending and Marikana.
Worth noting is that from October 18 to 20, Talana Museum will host re-enactments of the Battle of Talana and the Defence of Rorke’s Drift. Visit www.talana.co.za
The museum is open on weekdays from 8am to 4.30pm and from 9am on weekends. It is closed on Christmas Day and Family Day. Tel: 034 212 2654. - Independent on Saturday