WATCH | Indians are part of SA fabric - KZN premier on arrival anniversary

Indians who are born in SA have no other home.

That's the word from KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala, who led a commemoration for the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in SA on Monday.

Zikalala was joined at Durban's Addington beach by a delegation of government, religious and community leaders to mark the historic event, which included a small inter-faith prayer and the dispersing of marigolds into the sea as a symbolic gesture.

"As a South African society, we are quite diverse, with different origins and different cultures, but we are one nation.

"We are here as part of the commemoration of the arrival of the Indian community in SA, who arrived here in 1860 as slaves brought by the British. 

"But they have been part of us. As we said in 1955, SA belongs to all who live in it."

He said Indians who originated here "have no other home except SA".

Zikalala encouraged communities to draw from their cultures and heritage to build a united country, "which would not be described by discrimination in terms of race and gender, but a nation where there would be development and prosperity for all its people".

The commemoration continued at the city's 1860 Heritage Centre.

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