{"id":4210,"date":"2026-05-22T09:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/?p=4210"},"modified":"2026-06-16T02:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:12:29","slug":"colonial-labour-migration-and-the-hidden-history-of-malawian-muslims-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/colonial-labour-migration-and-the-hidden-history-of-malawian-muslims-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Colonial labour, migration and the hidden history of Malawian Muslims in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Long before modern migration debates and xenophobic tensions gripped South Africa, Malawian Muslims were already helping build Johannesburg through the brutal labour systems of colonial mining capitalism, writes Neelam Rahim<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of Malawian Muslims in Gauteng stretches back more than a century to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886. The rapid expansion of South Africa\u2019s mining economy created a huge demand for cheap African labour, drawing thousands of workers from across the region, including from what was then Nyasaland, present-day Malawi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to researcher Dr Jameel Asani, Malawians were among the earliest migrant labourers recruited into the mines through colonial labour systems such as the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, commonly known as Wenela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many eventually settled in areas like Fordsburg, Brixton and Westbury, carrying not only their labour but also their Islam into the heart of Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his PhD research<\/a> on Malawian Muslim migrants in Johannesburg, Asani argues that these communities form part of a long and deeply rooted history of labour, migration and religious resilience in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is remarkable is that many of these early migrants were already Muslim and they carried their faith with them,\u201d he told One Nation Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Malawian Muslim presence in Gauteng is a living inheritance of over a century of movement, labour and spiritual resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colonial labour and Muslim migration<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asani\u2019s research argues that Malawian Muslims played a significant but largely under-recognised role in reshaping Islam in South Africa into a more cosmopolitan and less ethnically confined faith community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, Islam in South Africa was shaped primarily by the Cape Malay community, descended from enslaved people and political exiles from Southeast Asia, and later by Indian Muslim merchant communities. Both traditions contributed immensely to Islamic life in South Africa, helping establish mosques, institutions and religious scholarship across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>
View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/blockquote>