The Limits to Visibility: Indian Women in the Transvaal,1870S TO 1930S

Abstract

This article argues that it is important to include women in a discussion of Indian migration to the Transvaal. The historiography provides a very limited insight into the experiences of women and this is because the focus has been mainly on political struggles. Women secure a place in history only through their participation in passive resistance struggles. The article argues that although they are credited with participating in the Gandhi-led Satyagraha struggle only in 1913, the evidence indicates that their involvement was much earlier. Through constructing short biographical information about three Indian women who lived in the Transvaal, the article points to important issues which women faced in setting up home. It specifically examines the Johannesburg Indo-European Women's Association since this was an important move by women to emerge out of domesticity, engage with white women at a social level and become involved with public work. It illustrates the challenges of inter-cultural communication. Finally, the article makes an argument for oral histories to be collected and memoirs to be written before it is too late for it is through such sources that the experiences of women can be uncovered more successfully.