As the world commemorates the 120th anniversary of the Phoenix Settlement and Mahatma Gandhi’s 155th birth anniversary, the settlement and his legacy remain powerful symbols of non-violent resistance and social justice. A new book and a special event mark this occasion.



The Phoenix Settlement, established in 1904 by Mahatma Gandhi in the lush hills of Inanda, in South Africa’s coastal KwaZulu-Natal province, was much more than a communal living space; it was the birthplace of Gandhi’s revolutionary philosophy of Satyagraha. His aim was to create a self-sustaining community built on principles of non-violence, truth, and self-reliance. Phoenix would go on to play a crucial role in shaping his ideas on justice and equality, principles that would later drive India’s independence movement.



“The Phoenix Settlement embodies Gandhi’s African legacy not only for South Africa but for the world,” says Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie in an interview with FORBES AFRICA. Her book, Gandhi’s African Legacy: Phoenix Settlement 1904 to 2024. A History Through Letters, which will be launched at a special event on October 5, provides a unique window into the settlement’s history, traced not just through Gandhi’s letters, but through the correspondence of his family, particularly Manilal Gandhi, his wife Sushila, and their children Sita, Arun and Ela Gandhi. These letters reveal the immense struggles faced in preserving Gandhi’s legacy while resisting the social injustices of the time.



At Phoenix, Gandhi set up a printing press for his newspaper, Indian Opinion, which was printed in multiple languages — Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati, and English. The newspaper became a vital tool in Gandhi’s fight against injustice, giving a voice to both Indian and African communities in South Africa. Through its pages, Gandhi articulated the principles of Satyagraha — a strategy of civil disobedience rooted in non-violence that would later inspire global movements for justice.



The years Gandhi spent in South Africa were pivotal in shaping his world-renowned philosophy of non-violent resistance. The Phoenix Settlement was a microcosm of the principles Gandhi would later apply to India’s struggle for independence.



It was here that he, his family, and other settlers practised communal farming and manual labor, embodying his ideals of simplicity, self-sufficiency, and equality.



According to Dhupelia-Mesthrie, Gandhi’s vision for Phoenix was inspired by his desire to “experiment with a different form of living that challenged settler society’s segregationist ideals”. He aimed to create a community that embodied inter-faith harmony, upliftment of women, and an equitable labor system where workers earned equal wages regardless of skill. Phoenix became known as a ‘Satyagraha Farm’, a place where young people could be educated in non-violent resistance and prepared to challenge injustices. “Gandhi always believed that the power to transform society lay in the hands of ordinary people,” Dhupelia-Mesthrie explains.



He described Satyagraha as “the force which is born of truth and love or non-violence”.



The settlement became a living example of how collective wellbeing could take precedence over individual gain.



When Gandhi left South Africa in 1914 to return to India, his son Manilal Gandhi took up the mantle, leading the settlement and continuing the publication of Indian Opinion. Under Manilal’s leadership, the newspaper advocated for non-racialism, and he himself became deeply involved in South Africa’s broader fight against apartheid. His wife, Sushila, would later assume leadership of the settlement, ensuring it remained a hub for activism and education until her death.



The Inanda Riots of 1985 severely damaged the settlement, but it has since been restored thanks to efforts by the Phoenix Settlement Trust and the Gandhi family. Today, the settlement houses a museum, a clinic, and Gandhi’s original home, continuing its legacy as a place of learning and inspiration.



The Phoenix Settlement offers enduring leadership lessons that resonate today. Gandhi’s approach to truth, integrity, and ethical leadership is particularly relevant in a world grappling with complex social and economic challenges. His model of leadership, rooted in non-violent resistance and communal good, provides a framework for ethical governance and inclusive decision-making. For modern business leaders, these lessons are just as powerful.



The 120th-anniversary celebration of Phoenix Settlement will culminate in the launch of Dhupelia-Mesthrie’s book. According to her, Gandhi’s African legacy speaks directly to today’s most pressing challenges: how to live harmoniously in the face of differences, how to conduct oneself ethically, and how to resist injustices non-violently. As the world grapples with issues like climate change, inequality, and social unrest, Gandhi’s time at Phoenix serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of non-violent resistance, ethical governance, and the pursuit of justice for all.

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‘Legacy Not Only For South Africa But For The World’: 120 Years Of Gandhi’s Phoenix

Gandhi may have had varying views on the consumption of tea, but it is for a tea launch that I visit Satyagraha House, located in the serene suburb of Orchards, Johannesburg, where the lawyer-turned-activist and India’s Father of the Nation lived for two years at the beginning of the last century.
It was here that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stayed until 1909 and developed Satyagraha, his political philosophy of passive resistance. He lived with his friend Hermann Kallenbach, a German architect who built the house in 1907.
The French travel company, Voyageurs du Monde Africa, bought Satyagraha House in 2009 and had it restored and opened to the public as a museum and guesthouse in 2011.
<div id="attachment_32795" style="width: 333px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32795" class="wp-image-32795" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Gandhi-house-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="323" height="242" />Satyagraha House (Photo by Methil Renuka)</div>
The house, with its strong South African design influences, retains the original thatched roof, chimney, a garden with indigenous plants, and a vegetable patch at the rear. Gandhi famously adhered to a strict vegetarian diet and an austere life, so the guesthouse conforms by serving only vegetarian food, and now bespoke tea.
Through exhibited photographs, plaques, panels, and popular Gandhi motifs such as the spinning wheel, cotton fabric and his circular glasses, the home is a visual essay of his domestic life in South Africa for those two years.
The cool weather and the tranquility here offers the perfect setting for a cup of tea, preferably under the two century-old trees in the backyard, appropriately named Pride of India.
It is in this backdrop you get five minutes with the lithe and effervescent Swaady Martin, the entrepreneur who in 2012 founded <a href="http://www.yswara.com/">YSWARA</a>, a home-grown African luxury brand now present in 17 countries. Soon after our meeting, Martin is jetting off to Paris for yet another launch of her teas.
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In South Africa, she has a factory at the Cradle of Humankind and a store at the culture-rich Maboneng Precinct. Martin calls her bespoke tea at Satyagraha House “lemon verbena chai”, sourced from natural ingredients and created by her.
Home for her is different places, but Martin has been living in South Africa for the last seven years. She was a regular visitor at Satyagraha House when it opened. That’s how the inspiration for the collaboration came about.
The 39-year-old, whose father is American and German and mother is French, Guinean and Ivorian, and who calls herself a citizen of the world, has a genuine interest in African culture, and a deep love for India.
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<div id="attachment_32794" style="width: 253px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32794" class="size-medium wp-image-32794" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Swaady-Martin-by-Gary-Stephens-243x300.jpg" alt="Swaady Martin" width="243" height="300" />Swaady Martin (Photo by Gary Stephens)</div>
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“I am grateful that my DNA is mixed, as this is how I feel. I have an Asian soul,” says Martin, who confesses her immense love also for Gandhi.
“I have always been an admirer of Gandhi as the visionary and also as the loving revolutionary. And to be able to able to create this tea for Satyagraha House and for Gandhi is an immense privilege.”
It’s a happy coincidence; I tell Martin her brand YSWARA has an Indian ring to it and means God in Hindi. She agrees.
“It talks about the ethos of our company and the soulfulness that is really the thread of everything we do, that same soulfulness is also in Gandhi’s philosophy and the lifestyle that I relate to.”
Africa may be the largest exporter of tea in the world but Martin says the current entrepreneurial climate in Africa is tough.
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“In the context of Africa, it’s challenging to be an entrepreneur everywhere. Being a female entrepreneur in Africa is especially challenging, it’s not for the faint-hearted,” she says.
Despite the tepid environment, Martin continues with her journey of creating “extraordinary teas” that now form part of any visitor’s date with history in a heritage home in Johannesburg.
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FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

‘Legacy Not Only For South Africa But For The World’: 120 Years Of Gandhi’s Phoenix

“Being a female entrepreneur is not for the faint-hearted”