MOHANDAS KARAMANCHAND GANDHI

Up till 1893 there were hardly any free and well-educated Indians in South Africa capable of espousing the Indian cause. English-knowing Indians were mostly clerks whose knowledge of English was only commensuratewith the needs of their occupation and not adequate to drafting representations, and who, again, must give all their time to their employers. A second group of English-educated Indians was composed of such of themas were born in South Africa. They were mostly the descendants of indenturedlabourers, and if at all qualified for the work, were in Government service as interpreters in law courts. Thus they were not in a position to help the Indian cause beyond expressing their fellow-feeling. . . I left India for South Africa in April, 1893. I had no idea of the previous history of the Indian emigrants. I went there on a purely professional visit. . . So I reached Durban in May 1893.

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa (1928).