Because of their Indian descent, Hindu settlers in South Africa suffered discrimination, abuse and persecution[5][6][7] during the colonial and Apartheid eras.

One school of scholars state that Indians first arrived in modern South Africa during colonial era as indentured servants for the British Empire.

Kautiliya's Arthashastra dedicates a chapter to it, and mentions a government official called navadhyaksha, or minister of shipping whose job was to capture and prosecute pirates, manage sea ports and collect custom duties.

[11] Wilfred Schoff's work provides evidence of a chain of active trading ports along east and west Indian coasts by 1st century BC.

[16] Hromnik states that the likely path was arrival in Mozambique, followed by a land route inland into gold mining areas belonging to Shona people in Zimbabwe to South Africa.

Large numbers of Hindus (as well as people of other religions) began arriving into South Africa in the 19th century colonial era, mostly as indentured labor and some on their own as "free" immigrants.

While some Hindus were recruited legally, many others were kidnapped or "blackbirded" into long-term indentured service in various parts of British Empire, ranging from South Africa to Fiji, Australia and the Caribbean.

[4][21] In South Africa, indentured labourers were brought in to work on sugarcane plantations in Natal,[18] in part because sugarcane farming and sugar had its origins in India, the labor did not need to be trained, and Indian Hindus were suffering from waves of famines and extreme poverty while British colonial empire was busy force converting India's fertile farms from the production of food to the production of cash crops such as cotton for British mills, tobacco for Europeans, poppy and opium for China.

[18][25] Between 1874 and 1911, European plantation and factory owners in Natal region of South Africa alone brought in 146,000 people from India in 364 ships.

[28] Discriminatory laws based on ethnic origin began to be passed in 1890s, and the roots of South African apartheid era started taking shape.

It was his experiences of colonial abuse, religious stereotyping and racial discrimination against poor Hindus in South Africa that shaped his political and non-violent movement.

Not only did they demand civil rights to transform interracial relations, they also sought social reforms among Hindus living in South Africa.

[29][30] As the "free" Hindu community prospered, more temples were built in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

As apartheid-type discriminatory laws against colored and black people began to catch the imagination of some European settlers in South Africa, a few regional governments banned Hindus from purchasing land or building new temples in 1902.

[citation needed] According to a research, more than 88% of Hindus affirmed a monotheistic understanding of God in Hinduism as opposed to only about 11% admitting to polytheistic notions.

[36][37] In 2018, an organisation called the "South African Hindu Dharma Sabha" officially "declared war on such religious conversion".