9-10th November 2024: Vishva Hindu Parishad (‘VHP’) South Africa held the South African National Hindu Conference at Durban (KwaZulu-Natal province). Themed “United Communities, Stronger South Africa”, the event brought together 300 delegates and leaders from 42 Hindu organisations and representatives from South Africa’s Sanyasa Council. The previous gathering took place in 1995. Two resolutions were passed during this conference. The first focuses on strong Hindu representation across public bodies such as government, judiciary, armed forces etc. Hindu representation here would advocate for challenging stereotypes for Hindus, pushing for more Hindu chaplaincies and, improving educational support. The second resolution concentrates on Hindu Organisations, Temples and Associations (‘HOTA’). HOTA aims to bring Hindu groups together and work on tackling common issues such as religious conversion, political engagement and scholarships for Hindu students. Both resolutions touched upon the need for Hindus to form alliances with Indigenous African groups and play a role in safeguarding their religious traditions.
There is some debate over when Hinduism first arrived in South Africa – one view suggests that traders from Bharat were in the country as far back as 500 CE. The current Hindu population are largely descendants of indentured labourers who arrived in the mid-1800s from UP, Bihar, Andhra and Tamil Nadu to work in the sugar plantations of KwaZulu-Natal, where the community is now concentrated. In the 1990s a second wave of Hindus arrived as traders; largely from Gujarat. Unlike in East Africa, the end of colonial rule did not trigger large-scale migration of South African Hindus to the West, hence their presence in the UK is relatively small. With 682,302 recorded in its 2022 census, South Africa is home to one of the largest Hindu populations in Africa.