Between apartheid and neoliberalism in Durban's Indian quarter

A drive from Durban's beaches towards the once bustling 'Indian quarter' will lead to a confluence of three streets: Monty Naicker, Alfred Bitini Xuma, and Yusuf Dadoo. The threesome of Xuma, leader of the African National Congress, Yusuf Dadoo, president of the Transvaal Indian Congress, and Monty Naicker, president of the Natal Indian Congress, were the pioneers of the very first attempt in the city to unite African and Indian struggles against racial oppression. Diagonally across the road to the right from 'Red Square' are the Ajmeri and Madressa arcades. They are, in reality, tiny lanes filled with a multitude of shops whose goods spew out onto the narrow pathway. The Cathedral was a hive of activity during the anti-apartheid struggles of the 1980s and is now a shelter for African refugees. Despite its age, St. Emmanuel's Cathedral, which was built in 1904, remains an impressive building architecturally.