DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, June 2, 2002: Concerned members of the Indian community have banded together to consider issues raised in Mbongeni Ngema’s controversial song, “Amandiya,” and look at ways of improving Indo-African relations. The committee was formed at a closed-doors meeting in Durban this week facilitated by the 1860 Heritage Foundation. The committee said there are problems that exist between Africans and Indians. It wants to identified and deal with them. The committee also hopes to strengthen ties between South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, and the Indian community. The facilitator of the meeting, Krish Gokool, said the committee would plan a course of action to deal with the anti-Indian song. “This week we are planning a meeting with other race groups to discuss the Ngema issue. This is not an Indian issue. We need the support of other communities to plan a course of action.” “Eventually we want to become a watchdog body on racism issues affecting all South African communities,” Gokool added. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission has lodged a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission. Deputy chairman Jody Kollapen said the problem with Ngema’s song was that it consisted of sweeping generalizations, contained harmful stereotypes of Indian people and had the potential to polarize rather than bring people together in social dialogue.
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