ANC leader appeals Indian-origin S Africans to share skills

The newly-elected provincial leader in South Africa has called on the almost one million Indian-origin people in KwaZulu-Nata province to share their entrepreneurial skills to uplift their Black community and avoid simmering tensions between them from boiling over.
"Indians are generally better off economically than Africans and they are quite successful in business because of their economic skills," ANC KwaZulu-Nata (KZN) provincial leader, Sihle Zikalala was quoted as saying by The Daily News.
"We want them to share these skills and uplift their African counterparts, because we are genuinely concerned at the tensions between these two groups," Zikalala said.
"If we fail to address this, those who want to be part of the economy and who remain marginalised, will simply break down the doors to ensure their voices are heard and that they are included in the economy," Zikalala added.

The ANC leader destined to become the new Premier of the souteast province conceded that although Indians dominated business enterprises in the province, they did not control the South African economy, which he said was "owned by a few white males".
"Within a KZN context, however, Indians are seen as the dominant players in the economy and we need to address this, not through attacking their contributions, but through the sharing of their entrepreneurial skills, encouraging and supporting them to provide real transformation opportunities which lead to empowerment," he said.

"This means levelling the playing field so that Africans are seen as equals and not subordinates to Indians, as is the common perception. This social cohesion is desperately needed and can only be done through addressing the economic disparities which exist," he added.

Local Indian community leaders welcomed the intervention by Zikalala amid strong anti-Indian remarks made recently by the Mazibuye African Forum (MAF), which had incited action against Indian businesses.
Faisal Suleman, chairman of the SA Muslim Network, called for the excellent track record of the South African Indian community in social and welfare work to be extended to other areas, including business development through skills sharing.
Nadas Pillay, Deputy President of the South African Tamil Federation, said the call from Zikalala was very encouraging in view of MAF exploiting the ignorance among today's youth of the role that the Indian community had played in the decades-long struggle to bring democracy for all to South Africa.