Civil society groups in Phoenix, north of Durban, are calling for the institution of the commission of enquiry into the 1985 Inanda unrest that claimed three lives and displaced over 1 500 Indian families.

The month of August marks 40 years since the 1985 riots in Inanda.

The displaced families had their homes looted and set alight. The violent attack happened at the time of the Tricameral Parliament, and just after Umlazi activist, Victoria Mxenge was murdered by a death squad.

Survivors and organisations believe a commission would give a clear picture of what triggered the attacks and who was the driving force.

Chairperson of the Duffs Road Civic Association Narendh Ganesh says, “Truth be told, there was no commission of enquiry instituted into the 1985. Quite interestingly, I was the student activist at the time, and I worked with Victoria and Griffiths. I don’t think there can be any definitive cause, but there’s always been speculation that there was a third force involved trying to instigate the unrest to get the area removed of the so-called Indian community.

“We were all divided by apartheid, with a Group Areas Act and in a unique area because two communities of racial differences lived together and lived together for a long time. So, the root cause of the problem has not been investigated to this very day, which is actually a pity,” Ganesh explains.

Political analyst, Bheki Mngomezulu says, “The call for the commission of enquiry to be appointed to look into this matter could achieve one of two results. One, it could bring the issue to rest by indicating what really happened on the day. But then the negative side of it is that it might open old ones that are beginning to heal.”

Mngomezulu adds, “This is especially because, even though there are people who are said to have attacked the Asian community but the number of people who died on the side are the Zulu people. Now this means that a ratio intolerant might, in fact, continue in case and especially given the fact that not so long ago, a number of black people were killed in Phoenix during the 2021 Riots. Therefore, this call should be looked at very carefully because if handled badly, it may have negative consequences.”