Indian Buses (Signed copy)

Indian Buses: the History, the Memories, the Personalities by Zainul Abeerdeen

The history of the Indian bus operators in Durban. Indian transport in Durban originated when an Indian named Sidhoo converted a dodge truck into an omnibus service.

He placed two benches length wise in the back of the vehicle and ran a service from Riverside to the centre of Durban.

In 1919 Mr Marimuthu purchased an old army truck, converted it into a bus and operated a service from Clairwood to the centre of town.

From this humble beginning Indian Omnibus Services developed and pioneered transport services. In the early years the vehicles carried 8 to 12 passengers gradually increasing in size, weight, shape and design to carry 100 passengers.

By 1930, however, transport was needed for longer distances on the eve of the expansion of the city beyond the old precinct.

In 1932 areas such as Greenwood park, Red Hill, Durban North, Sydenham, Mayville, Umhlatuzana and South Coast Junction (Rossburgh) were incorporated into the Durban Borough (council). Here the big innovation consisted of Indian-owned buses which began to service distant parts. They acquired permits to run buses on given routes and represented an area where small scale entrepreneurs could have a chance to develop businesses. By doing their own driving, repairing the vehicles themselves, employing family members and parking the buses in front of the house rather than in a garage, these enterprising individuals could undercut public transport and became essential to the economic life of the city.