Curries Fountain (also known as Curries Fountain Stadium or Sports Ground) in Durban, South Africa, is a historically significant site that evolved from a 19th-century water source into a major multi-sport venue, cultural hub, and key location for anti-apartheid resistance and non-racial sport.
Located near the Botanic Gardens, Warwick Junction, and what is now the Durban University of Technology (DUT) campuses (in the broader Grey Street/Warwick area), it has been called the “grand old lady” of its precinct due to its layered connections to water infrastructure, community life, sport, culture, and political struggle.
Origins as a Water Source (1870s–early 20th century)
The name “Curries Fountain” comes from H.W. Currie (also referred to as Councillor or Mayor HW Currie), a Durban councillor. In 1878, during a severe drought and water shortage in the growing borough of Durban (proclaimed in 1854), Currie successfully sank an artesian well and installed pumps in the area below the Botanic Gardens. The well, known as Currie’s Fountain, delivered around 50,000 gallons of water per day to the town via pipes and helped avert a serious water famine. It supplied the city into the 1890s.
A memorial fountain later commemorated Currie. The damp, water-influenced turf of the area later lent itself to recreational use. Early references note the site’s association with the pumping plant long after its primary water role ended.
Development as a Sports Ground (1920s onward)
By the early 20th century, colonial segregation limited access to other facilities for Black communities (including Indian, African, and Coloured residents). Negotiations to lease the land for sports began around 1920. In 1924–1925, the Durban Indian Sports Ground Association (DISGA) obtained a 25-year lease, and the site was formally designated as a sports ground for the Indian community (initially covering a larger area of roughly 23 acres that later shrank significantly, partly due to educational developments such as schools and the ML Sultan/DUT campus).
It quickly became a multi-sport facility hosting:
- Soccer (football) — the dominant code over time.
- Cricket (including the first turf wicket available to Black cricketers in South Africa, with international sides from India, Ghana, and Kenya).
- Athletics (with a cinder track).
- Tennis, golf, boxing, cycling, karate, and even motorcycle/car racing in earlier decades.
- Cultural events, music festivals, and community gatherings.
It served as a central hub for Indian community life in Durban and, over time, for broader Black communities. Floodlights were added in 1964, enabling night matches.
Role in Non-Racial Sport and Soccer History
From the mid-20th century, Curries Fountain became central to efforts at non-racial sport amid apartheid restrictions. In 1946, the Natal Inter-Race Soccer Board (NISB) formed, bringing together Indian, African, and Coloured associations. Albert Luthuli was among its key promoters; inter-race matches were viewed by some as progressive for breaking barriers but also heightened racial consciousness. A notable 1960 match between South African Indian and African XIs ended in riots, influencing the shift toward fuller non-racial structures.
Professional soccer expanded nationally in the early 1960s. The Federation Professional League (FPL) made Curries a “mecca of football,” hosting teams such as Aces United, Avalon Athletics, Berea, Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, Bush Bucks, Zulu Royals, Transvaal United, and others. The league sometimes quietly registered Black African players to promote integration. Legends associated with the ground include Henry “Black Cat” Cele, “Sugar Ray” Xulu, Dharam Mohan, Lionel Hamiel, Daya Maistry, “Excellent” Mthembu, and many more. Vincent Pillay scored the first goal under the newly constituted multiracial FPL in 1969.
Other sports thrived too: athletics produced notable performers, boxing featured figures like Nagoor Govender and Tap Tap Makathini, and the venue supported diverse community recreation.
Political and Resistance History
Curries Fountain’s significance extends far beyond sport. Mass open-air meetings began as early as 1913 with the Durban strikes (linked to the broader Indian passive resistance/Satyagraha campaign associated with figures like Thambi/Thumbi Naidoo, a contemporary of Gandhi); some 6,000 people gathered for a land tax strike meeting.
It hosted or served as a starting point for numerous anti-apartheid activities:
- 1940s: Welcome for Chief Scout Lord Baden-Powell by Indian scouts/guides; large parade during the 1947 British royal visit (Queen Elizabeth), with a reported 65,000 Indians attending one ceremony.
- 1959: Burning of the “dompas” (pass) campaign led by Albert Luthuli.
- Late 1970s–early 1990s: Increasingly used for protest and resistance (while still hosting sport). Notable events include the 1973/1976 Viva Frelimo rally (Black Consciousness Movement celebration of Samora Machel’s rise in Mozambique).
- 1985: Launch of COSATU.
- 1990: Relaunch of the ANC Women’s League; later used by MK (uMkhonto we Sizwe) and for ANC electioneering ahead of 1994, including welcoming leaders from exile.
Cultural events (music by groups such as the Jets, Flames, and Invaders) and social initiatives often took place under police surveillance. The surrounding neighbourhoods experienced forced removals and displacement under apartheid, which affected the community that used the grounds. Gang activity was also sometimes linked to the social conditions of the era.
The site is widely regarded as a microcosm of the liberation struggle and a metaphor for the fight for non-racialism—starting as an Indian sports field in colonial Durban and becoming a gathering place for disadvantaged Black populations across political, sporting, and cultural lines.
Later Developments, Heritage Status, and Present Day
The grounds’ size reduced over time (to around six acres by the late 1970s) as land was allocated for schools and educational institutions. Management evolved into a partnership involving the eThekwini Municipality (land owner), DUT, former sports associations, and civil society. The Curries Fountain Sports Development Centre (a not-for-profit entity) now manages the venue, focusing on community sport development, talent identification, capacity building, and programs for youth, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the unemployed. Upgrades have been supported by sources including the National Lottery.
A book, Curries Fountain: Sports, Politics and Identity (by Leonard Rosenberg, Sam Moodley, and Goolam Vahed), documented its history with photos and oral accounts after an architectural project and community memorabilia collection helped recover fading memories. Research projects such as ROCS (Research of Curries and Surrounds) at DUT have further explored its context within the Warwick Junction precinct.
It marked roughly 100 years as a formal sports ground around 2024–2025. Campaigns for formal heritage recognition intensified, and in September 2026 it was declared a Provincial Heritage Site under the KwaZulu-Natal Amafa and Research Institute Act, recognized for its exceptional historical, cultural, and social significance—including its roles in water supply origins, multi-code sport (especially non-racial), labour and political resistance, and community identity.
Today it continues as a functioning sports and community venue while serving as a living archive of Durban and South African history—from practical 19th-century infrastructure to a symbol of resilience, non-racialism, and shared identity. Its story intertwines everyday community life with major political and sporting milestones, reflecting both the constraints of segregation and the creative resistance that emerged within them.
