Mahatma Gandhi, was the founder of Phoenix Settlement.
In 1904, Mohandas Gandhi, who had resided in nearby Durban since 1893, established a small village-like settlement, Phoenix Settlement, on the northwestern outskirts of Inanda. Boasting residences, a clinic, a school, and a printing press, Phoenix served for a time as an important home to Gandhi, his family and his followers as they strove to follow a path of social change through passive resistance. The activist newspaper Indian Opinion, which argued strenuously for the civil rights of Indian South Africans, was published here in four languages.
Phoenix Settlement continued to serve as home to a number of residents and activists even after Gandhi's departure in 1914, including his son, Manilal Gandhi. By the early 1980s, a squatter camp, Bhambayi, occupied most of the area around the Settlement. In 1985, riots in the camp over apartheid caused heavy damage to Phoenix Settlement's buildings, and the community was largely abandoned until February 2000, when then-President Thabo Mbeki formally committed to its reopening and restoration.
