Gandhiji for first time organised mass protest in south africa where
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South Africa was the crucible that forged Gandhi’s identity as a political activist and was an important prelude to his return to India, where he played a pivotal role in securing its independence from British rule in August 1947.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (his birth name) arrived in South Africa in 1893 at the relatively tender age of 24 as a newly qualified lawyer on a temporary assignment to act on behalf of a local Indian trader in a commercial dispute. What was meant to be a short stopgap for the struggling young lawyer turned into a 21-year stay, with spells in India and England.
By the time Gandhi left South Africa for the last time in 1914, he had already earned the appellation Mahatma (or Great Soul) for his work in securing significant legal concessions for the local Indian population in South Africa.
During his time here, he developed the strategy known as satyagraha (truth-force), in which campaigners went on peaceful marches and presented themselves for arrest in protest against unjust laws.
This form of action was to become one of the great political tools of the 20th century, influencing the civil rights movement in the United States and the African National Congress in its early years of struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
For those interested in the Gandhi story, his years in South Africa were an important chapter in his path to becoming a leading political figure of the 20th century; there are many touch points and sites of interest on the road the young Gandhi followed in this country.
Video interview with Ela Gandhi
Ela Gandhi is the daughter of Mahatma Gandhi's second son, Manilal, who edited the Indian Opinion for many years. She was a member of the South African Parliament for 10 years after the first democratic elections in 1994, during which time she represented the Phoenix area of Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal. Here she talks about her famous grandfather.