Cato Manor, Durban
Encyclopedia
Cato Manor is a working class area located seven kilometers from Durban
's city centre.
It was formed when India
n market gardeners came to settle in the area some time after it was given to George Christopher Cato in 1865, who was the first mayor of Durban in 1854. The area attracted attention during the Apartheid era.
about 30,000 squatters had built their shacks in the place, which started even bigger riots between 1949 and 1950 when the Group Areas Act
was passed on by the government. People were now forced to move from the place to townships like KwaMashu
and the Indians moved to places like Chatsworth
and Phoenix
. On The 23 January 1960 an angry mob attacked 4 white and 5 black policemen at the Cato Manor Police station; they butchered the men and mutilated the bodies. The mutilated bodies, with genitals stuffed in their mouths, were then dragged through the streets by the mob. The tumult eventually died after 1964 when the place was deserted.
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
's city centre.
It was formed when India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n market gardeners came to settle in the area some time after it was given to George Christopher Cato in 1865, who was the first mayor of Durban in 1854. The area attracted attention during the Apartheid era.
History
Cato Manor became recognised when the Black Africans came to settle in during the 1920s, and rented land from Indian landlords who were there since the early 1900s. To earn a living, people started brewing beer and selling it in the streets of Durban to the thirsty workers. The authorities were glad to have people in town for labour but were scared to be overwhelmed by their population. They then started the so called Durban system which required permits from people who were in town to restrict the influx of population. The authorities then instituted the Native Beer Act of 1908, which allowed the municipality to brew and sell beer for self-finance. That became a success and the municipality reaped huge profits which meant that anyone brewing illegally was arrested. That started a dispute between the authorities and the people which led to people rioting due to their loss of making a living. Towards the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
about 30,000 squatters had built their shacks in the place, which started even bigger riots between 1949 and 1950 when the Group Areas Act
Group Areas Act
The Group Areas Act of 1950 was an act of parliament created under the apartheid government of South Africa on 27th April 1950. The act assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid...
was passed on by the government. People were now forced to move from the place to townships like KwaMashu
KwaMashu
KwaMashu is a township twenty miles north of Durban, South Africa with very high levels of poverty and crime.-History:The township was formed by the apartheid state to house the mass resettlement of Africans that were living in Cato Manor during 1958-65. It is the largest of 3 townships in the area...
and the Indians moved to places like Chatsworth
Chatsworth, Durban
Chatsworth, is a large Indian township in Durban, South Africa, which was created as a result of the Apartheid Government's Group Areas Act. This area, created in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was populated by those removed from their homes in mixed-race and whites-only areas...
and Phoenix
Phoenix, Durban
Phoenix is an Indian township, northwest of central Durban. It was established as a township in 1976, but it has a long history of Indian occupation...
. On The 23 January 1960 an angry mob attacked 4 white and 5 black policemen at the Cato Manor Police station; they butchered the men and mutilated the bodies. The mutilated bodies, with genitals stuffed in their mouths, were then dragged through the streets by the mob. The tumult eventually died after 1964 when the place was deserted.