Durban Riots

Durban Riots, interracial conflict between Zulus and Indians in Durban, South Africa, in January 1949. The riots, in which 142 people were killed and 1,087 injured, began when a black youth was killed by an Indian shopkeeper. The violence was symptomatic of longstanding social and economic divisions between the two communities. Paradoxically, the riots accelerated cooperation between the African National Congress and Indian leaders.