Indians in South Africa say many of them are encountering a new form of apartheid.
It has been 22 years since South Africa held its first multi-racial elections. Nelson Mandela became the country's first black President and he announced the birth of the "rainbow nation" - a term that spelt hope and described the coming together of people of many different nations.
Among them are South Africans of Indian descent who comprise 3 per cent of the country's population of 55 Million. They talk to us about life in post-apartheid South Africa.
Many of them have achieved success as businessmen, lawyers, doctors, and are in different sectors, yet they seem troubled by their day to day reality. They say they now confront an entirely different challenge. Freedom from apartheid has led to an anti-Indian racism, encouraged by some political leaders.
According to Vijay Valjee, Director of Gulfgro International, the success of the Indian community has led to enmity against Indians. "The Indian community is successful because they are hardworking, and are innate entrepreneurs," says he. "Looking at their success, the other race groups feel short-changed."
There are four major racial categories in South Africa. Black African comprise 80 per cent of the total population, White 8 per cent, Coloured 9 per cent apart from Indian/Asian 3 per cent.
Adds Vijay, "There are a lot of Indian businesses that are doing social work in the country. They are contributing to the country enormously. I think South African Indian community contribute around 50 to 60 billion Rands to the economy, which is a sizeable portion of the GDP."
According to businessman Jushwantrai Mavjee, "At the beginning, when we were under the white men, we had a tough time. Now, when everything is free, and the black man has taken over, we are getting the reverse of the apartheid on us. We had a radio station called Radio Lotus, which played Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati songs. But today, with the new law, they only play South African songs. 90 per cent of the songs should be South African-made songs."
The move by the public broadcaster, South African Broadcasting Corporation, has contributed to Indians feeling they are under attack. Adding to this is the fear and insecurity caused by the rising crime rate in the country, which affects all races. They say criminals are targeting homes and businesses. Those who deal in cash are sitting ducks. And law enforcement agencies are ineffective.
Businesswoman Bharti Lakhani said, "I will not go down Grey Street into Victoria Street where I was born and brought up. I am too scared."
Indian businessmen are resorting to carrying firearms on their person to protect themselves. Bharti's parents, sisters, brother and their families felt it was time to move out of South Africa. They migrated to Australia.
Sudhir Pragjee, who is Director of Videovision Entertainment, said, "I think there is an element of jealousy and old stories of exploitation and not doing enough for the blacks. I believe this view is not held by the majority of the people. Mandela had 7 or 8 Indian ministers in Parliament. He supported people who had fought for the struggle and they did a lot of work for this country."
According to Pragjee, while the Indian community benefitted from the fact that parents made education the first priority for their children. The second priority was to buy a home, not live on rent.
The blacks, on the other hand, suffered due to a migrant labour system which affected families. Black males went away to work in the mines and they lived in hostels. Mothers and grandmothers brought up the children.
Indians say they are being side-lined for admission to colleges and for jobs.
Photographer Bishan Soni said, "I studied biotechnology and I know the hardship it was for me to get a job once I qualified. When it comes to jobs, there are some races that are put first before others. So that is a bit unfortunate."
The government's black empowerment policies are extensive and include Indians as a previously disadvantaged category. However, implementation of the policies plays out differently.
According to political analyst Nic Dawes, companies believe it is politically desirable to have national demographics represented in your staff.
However, what has made matters worse are recent comments by two economists suggesting that being less oppressed during apartheid has worked to the relative advantage of Indians and that they should not be beneficiaries of the black empowerment policies.
The economists were commenting on findings that the gap between the Indians and whites is narrowing at a faster pace relative to both blacks and coloureds. While whites have the highest income, blacks have the lowest. Over 40 per cent Black Africans are unemployed compared to 8 per cent whites.
Dawes said, "What's absolutely critical is that South African leaders of all races continue to show an attitude of solidarity against injustice and solidarity for progress. Which is why we have Indian origin Cabinet Ministers of the ANC and always have had top Indian business leaders and cultural leaders."