The Indian Townships
Before the Boer War in 1899 Indians started to settle in Pretoria, North – east of the city center and Trevenna , east of Apies river and in the Esselen street area. By the end of the war half the Indian population had left Pretoria for Natal to escape war. A coolie location was set up in Pretoria in 1892 and this planted the seed of residential segregation for Indian South Africans.
The present-day Indian townships however were effected mainly by the Population Registration Act, which required all citizens to be classified by race which was stamped in their identity books. By so doing when the Group Areas Act of 1950 was passed, this act empowered the government to mark off areas for residence, occupation and trade by the different races with a view to move each race into its own area by force if necessary. This meant that in areas were people of all races had lived side by side some would have to be forcibly removed to these residentially segregated areas.
