Gandhi Centenary Park / Sri Sri Radhanath Gandhi Centenary Park

Inside the Temple of Understanding in Chatsworth

Right in the centre of Chatsworth, or Chazzies - a former township from the apartheid era that is today transformed into a thriving, predominantly Indian, community - stands an open public space known as Gandhi Centenary Park. It lies across a street block; a beautiful breathing space in the midst of a humming and commercial neighbourhood, and across the road from the local police station.

Through the Gandhi Park flows a water course interspersed with paved pathways, a gazebo apt for contemplation, and a little amphitheatre. The park was named in memory of the centenary of Mohandas (Mohatma) Karamchand Gandhi’s arrival in South Africa, and a bust of the great man, including plaques inscribed with some of his most well-known expressions, was erected to mark the event.

On Gandhi’s arrival in the country in 1893, there was a growing anti-Indian attitude in the country and his role in the country’s history is well documented. Some historians argue that Gandhi’s South African experience was a formative one that moulded him into a very special kind of public figure. His role as a major political and spiritual leader in India was shaped by his use of non-violent civil disobedience as a lawyer in South Africa, where he committed himself to the Indian community’s struggle for civil rights.

He was a great man who practiced non-violence and truth. His time in South Africa shaped the Indian community into a political force to be reckoned with - a struggle during which thousands of Indians were jailed for resisting in a non-violent manner the new Act that compelled them to register.