DURBAN RIOTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 160, 19 April 1949, Page 3

DURBAN RIOTS

COMMISSION ISSUES REPORT Cause Still a Mystery IN.Z.P. A.—Copyright) (Kec. 11.15 a.i11.) JOHANNESBURG, April 18. The influential!: Johannesburg evening paper “The Star/’ commenting on the Durban Race Riot Commission’s report, said the true origins of the disturbances were as profound a mystery now as they were at the time the riots took place.

“The Star” said the central problem was not so much as to why Africans rioted as to why they attacked Indians and left Europeans alone. The findings seemed to suggest that the grievances of Africans against Indians were largely of their own imagining, or were exaggerated beyond their real merits.

“The Star” added: “Here apparently lies the true cause of the riots, yet it remains a mysterious cause, upon which the report, as summarised, throws too little light. We remain convinced that, these dark passions breed in the slums, however much the natives may like living there. It was obvious ' that there must have been deep resentment and antagonism among the natives towards the Indians, and the commission found that this was the cause, hut the reasons given for these feelings are sobedevilled with contradiction, and irrelevancy that the impression that remains after reading the summary of the report is one of bewilderment and irritation.”