Curries Fountain

Curries Fountain
Interactive map of Curries Fountain
Coordinates29°50′58″S 31°00′30″E / 29.849383°S 31.00821°E / -29.849383; 31.00821
Construction
Opened1925

Curries Fountain Sport Ground is the name of a notable sports facility that was established for the Durban Indian community in 1925.[1] This sports facility was more than just a soccer pitch, cricket grounds, cinder track and tennis court. It was also a struggle site[2] and heritage location[3] and has been called the "grand old lady" of this small precinct because of its connection to activism and resistance, water supply, sports and culture[4]

History

Curries was named after the Mayor and Councillor HW Currie, who sank a well and pumps below the Botanic Gardens (🌍). This facility delivered 50,000 gallons of water a day to the town.[5] Today the area is a popular stadium and a memorial fountain commemorates the mayor.[6]

This damp patch of turf was used as a venue for mass open-air meetings, which began in 1913 with the Durban Strikes.[7][8] Negotiations to lease the land as a sports venue began in 1920 and the Durban Indian Sports Ground Association (DISGA) was granted a 25-year lease in 1925.

In 1946, the Natal Inter-Race Soccer Board (NISB) was established, comprising three football associations.[9]

  • Indian Football Association (NIFA),
  • Natal African Football Association (NAFA), and
  • Natal Coloured Football Association (NCFA).

From 1946 - 1960, matches were played along racial lines [10] with Albert Luthuli was one of the key promoters of this soccer board. Luthuli's interest in soccer was political and the ANC saw the game as a means to create alliances between Durban's mostly urban workers, rural migrants, and mission-educated elites. These alliances were developed further with industrialisation and urbanisation. Inter race football was seen, at that time, as a positive development. Soccer games broke race barriers. However, these race-based matches also exacerbated race consciousness. On 31 July, a soccer match at Curries Fountain, between the South African Indian XI and the South African Africans XI at Curries Fountain, Durban resulted in riots. The Curries Fountain incident changed opnions about inter-race matches and the eventual outcome would be a commitment (among the majority) to non-racial football in South Africa.[10]

Soccer at Curries Park

The sports ground has 100 years of sporting history,[11] and the Federation Professional League (FPL) was established.[12] With the implementation of the Group Areas Act in the 1960s, the tensions created by racial sporting codes, sports federations' activities were interrupted,[13] after 1960, Curries Fountain became an important venue for non-racial sporting codes, and teams that played at the venue included:[14]

The FPL league also promoted integration by secretly registering Black African players.[17]


Today the Curries Fountain Sports Development Centre manages the venue, and plans have been made to use the facility as a model for other townships and rural areas to follow and create integrated and community managed sport facilities.[14]

Recent Events

Notable events at Curries Fountain
Date Event Press report
5 May 2024 130th NIC Anniversary Natal Wittness
SPORTS LEGEND
Result Colour
Won W
Lost L
Draw D


References

  1. ^ "Foundation of non racial sports and politics". Retrieved 2025-09-14 – via PressReader.
  2. ^ "Telling the Story of Soccer at Curries". 2010 – via Durban University of Technology.
  3. ^ "DUT: Book Launch - Wellspring of Hope". 2012 – via Durban University of Technology.
  4. ^ Rosenburg, Leonard (2008). "A study of Durban's backyard: Currie's Fountain" (PDF). Architecture South Africa: 28–31. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
  5. ^ HIS (2013-09-10). "Currie Memorial Fountain". Memorial Drinking Fountains. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  6. ^ Chemaly, Frank (2022). "Pouring cold water over drinking fountain" – via Independent Online.
  7. ^ "1913: The 10 days that shook Durban".
  8. ^ "The Satyagraha Campaign - 1913 to 1914 | the Making of a Political Reformer : Gandhi in South Africa, 1893-1914".
  9. ^ Vahed, Goolam (21 August 2024). "Curries Fountain: The past is always present". Post.
  10. ^ a b Ngidi, Mphumeleli (2014-11-01). "Inter-race soccer and the 1960 riots in Durban, South Africa". Historia. 59 (2): 326–343. ISSN 0018-229X.
  11. ^ Costa, Wendy Jasson Da (2024-02-11). "Curries Fountain marks 100 years of history". IOL. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  12. ^ Khan, Nadia (2018-06-10). "Curries Fountain a national treasure". IOL. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  13. ^ Cleophas, Francois Johannes (2024-11-01). "Origins of non-racial school sport in South Africa". Sport in Society. 27 (11): 1729–1748. doi:10.1080/17430437.2024.2309988. ISSN 1743-0437.
  14. ^ a b "About". Curries Fountain Sports Development Centre. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  15. ^ https://gldc.ukzn.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Aug-15_1969.pdf
  16. ^ https://gldc.ukzn.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Aug-15_1969.pdf
  17. ^ "Home". Curries Fountain Sports Development Centre. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
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