VEREENIGING. – September is Heritage Month – a very appropriate time for South Africans from different cultures to get to know each other better.
Here is some interesting information about the Indian community in the Vaal: The first Indian traders settled in Vereeniging in 1904, and the nearly 120 years since are marked with an illustrious history. A history of struggles against racial segregation as well as survival and growing prosperity against all odds.

The Indian community is a deeply religious one. For the Muslim sector of the community the mosque plays a central and pivotal role. The mosque in Vereeniging’s main street was built in 1917 and still stands today, very well kept and regularly upgraded.

In 1924 a school was built adjoining the mosque. At its inception it opened with 250 pupils and 12 teachers. At the time it was the only Indian school in South Africa located in a city centre.
Despite opposition to the implementation of the Group Areas Act the local Indian community was forced to accept a move to an “Indian Township”. A piece of land (a farm called Mafube), 14 kilometres from Vereeniging’s city centre, was purchased by the municipality in the early 1960s at a cost of 100 Pounds.

In 1967 a sod-turning ceremony was held to officially declare the government’s intention to move Indians to this reserved area north of the city of Vereeniging. Thus Roshnee was born.
The word “Roshnee” is a Hindi word meaning “light”. Ironically the Indians at the time felt that they were being forced into subjugation and darkness. The community’s complaints fell on deaf ears and in 1969 the first residents took occupation of their new homes. And so began a new chapter in the history of this unique and remarkable community.

It was largely a community of traders, but the emphasis on education was immense, thus a shift towards professionalism began. 1970 saw the opening of the Roshnee State Indian High School with 569 pupils and 32 teachers. That was followed by the addition of the Roshnee Islamic School, a pre-primary and separate primary school in the 1990s.
The mainly Muslim community was 14 km away from the mosque in Vereeniging’s city centre and in 1974 a new mosque was completed in Roshnee at a cost of R300 000 – an enormous amount in the 1970s.

Roshnee’s early years were those of frustration, adaptation and survival, but many residents managed to overcome the stumbling blocks and even prospered in adversity. In this milieu of social engineering, many successful businessmen and women emerged while the move to an educated middle-class delivered highly skilled professionals in the fields of law, medicine and education.
The community of Roshnee had not just built a home for themselves but also contributed in an extraordinary way to the Vaal Triangle’s economy and its cultural wealth.