The Magazine Barracks, was an area in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, that housed

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

labourers, who worked for the ''Durban Corporation'' (the municipality of Durban, now absorbed into the

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality, created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 Districts of South Africa, di ...

), and their families. Built in 1880, close to the centre of Durban, these rudimentary tin and wood shelters were adjacent to military buildings that stored ammunitions or magazines. Hence the name magazine barracks. The barracks had a population of up to 6,000 people at times, living in 1251 rooms, and living conditions were regarded as "wretched" due to an unwillingness of the authorities to upgrade the area. As part of the implementation of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

policies, including the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...

, Indians were removed from the Magazine Barracks, and resettled in areas including Chatsworth, which were much further from the city centre of Durban. Located next to the Magazine Barracks, was a similar black African labour compound called Baumannville.Natalia.org
The site of the Magazine Barracks is now the location of the Durban Magistrates Court and police headquarters.

References

Durban {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub