The Indian population of South Africa owes its presence in the country to the labour problem experienced by pioneer farmers who established sugar plantations in the British colony of Natal during the 19th century.
Margaret Sugden { 1978) stated that in a strati£ ied random sample of 2 000 Indian families drawn in the Durban-Pietermaritzburg area in 1974 "Some 15 per cent had never received any formal education, while of those who had attended school, 34 per cent had less than a standard six education and 9