Cape Coloureds () are a
South African group of
Coloured people who are from the Cape region in South Africa which consists of the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
,
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
and the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between the
European, the
indigenous Khoi and San, the
Xhosa plus other
Bantu people, indentured labourers imported from the
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
, slaves imported from the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
, immigrants from the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
or
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
(or a combination of all). Eventually, all these ethnic and racial groups intermixed with each other, forming a group of mixed-race people that became known as the "Cape Coloureds".
Demographics
Although
Coloureds represent only 8.15% of people within
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, they make up 42.1% of the population in the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
, representing a plurality of the population of the province. (according to the
2022 South African census)
They are generally bilingual, speaking
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...
and
English, though some speak only one of these. Some Cape Coloureds may
code switch,
speaking a
patois of Afrikaans and English called
Afrikaaps, also known as Cape Slang (Capy) or , meaning Kitchen Afrikaans. Cape Coloureds were classified under
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
as a subset of the larger
Coloured race group.

Recent studies of Cape Coloureds using genetic testing have found ancestry to vary by region. Khoe-San ancestry is higher in inland regions and towards the North into present-day Northern Cape. Although it is prevalent throughout the Cape, the partial Bantu-Speaking ancestry (most predominantly
Xhosa) gets higher going Eastwards into present-day Eastern Cape. The European-related ancestry is highest along the coast. In Cape Town and the rest of the Western Cape province, the partial Asian ancestry is high and diverse due to the arrival of Asian and African slaves that mixed with Europeans (colonists, immigrants, tourists) and existing mixed race (Khoisan-European) which formed the modern day Cape Coloureds and Cape Malay due to the creolisation of all those populations. At least 4 genetic studies indicate that the average Cape Coloured has an ancestry consisting of the following, with large variation between individuals:
*
Khoisan-speaking Africans: ~25.3%
*
Bantu-speaking Africans: ~15.5%
*
Ethnic groups in Europe
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ances ...
: ~39.3%
*
Asian people
"Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...
s: ~19.9%
Below are the approximate ranges for each ancestral component based on genetic studies and historical accounts:
*
African Ancestry: Range: ~ 30-68%
*
European Ancestry: Range: ~ 20-70%
*
Asian Ancestry: Range: ~ 20-40%
*
Middle Eastern Ancestry: Range: ~ 5-15%
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and individual results may vary. The ancestry of Cape Coloureds can be diverse and complex.
The genetic reference cluster term "Khoisan" itself refers to a colonially admixed population cluster, hence the concatenation, and is not a straightforward reference to ancient African pastoralist and hunter ancestry, which is often demarcated by the L0 haplogroup ancestry common in the general South African native population, which is also integral part of other aboriginal genetic reference cluster terms like "South-East African Bantu".
Religion
A separate Dutch Reformed Church, the ''Dutch Reformed Mission Church'' (DRMC), was formed in 1881 to serve the Cape Coloured Calvinist population separately from the
Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK). It was merged in 1994 with the ''
Dutch Reformed Church in Africa'' (DRCA, formed 1963) to form the
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa.
Success in the spread of Catholicism among Afrikaans speakers, including Coloured communities, remained minimal until the death throes of
Apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
during the mid to late 1980s. As Catholic texts began to be translated into Afrikaans, sympathetic
Dutch Reformed pastors, who were defying the traditional
anti-Catholicism of their Church, assisted in correcting linguistic errors. By 1996, the majority of Afrikaans-speaking Catholics came from the
Coloured community, with a smaller number of
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...
converts, most of whom were from professional backgrounds.
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
remains in practice among
Cape Malays, who were generally regarded as a separate ethnoreligious group under apartheid.
Origin and history
The first and the largest phase of
interracial marriages/
Miscegenation in South Africa happened in the
Dutch Cape Colony which began from the 17th century, shortly after the arrival of Dutch settlers, who were led by
Jan van Riebeeck. When the Dutch settled in the Cape in 1652, they met the
Khoi Khoi who were the natives of the area. After settling in the Cape, the Dutch established farms that required intensive labour therefore, they enforced
slavery in the Cape. Some of the
Khoi Khoi became labourers for the Dutch farmers in the Cape. Despite this, there was resistance by the Khoi Khoi, which led to the
Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars.
As a result, the Dutch imported slaves from other parts of the world, especially the
Malay people from present-day Indonesia and the
Bantu people from various parts of
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...
.
To a certain extent, slaves were also imported from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar, Mauritius and elsewhere in Africa. The slaves were almost invariably given Christian names but their places of origin were indicated in the records of sales and other documents so that it is possible to estimate the ratio of slaves from different regions. Often, slaves were given their masters' surnames, surnames that were of biblical origin (e.g. Adams, Thomas, Jacobs, Matthews, Peters, Daniels) or surnames that reflected the month in which they arrived (e.g. September, March, October, April). These slaves were, however, dispersed and lost their cultural identity over the course of time.
Because most of the Dutch settlers in the Cape were men, many of them married and fathered the first group of mixed-race children with Khoi Khoi women. Soon after the arrival of slaves in the Cape, the Dutch men also married and fathered mixed race children with the
Malay from Indonesia, the Southern African Bantu, Indians and other enslaved ethnic groups in the Cape.
To a certain extent, the slaves in the Cape also had interracial unions with each other and mixed-race children were also conceived from these unions as well because the slaves were of different races (
African and
Asian).
Unlike the
One-drop rule in the US, mixed-race children in the Cape were not viewed as "white enough to be white", "black enough to be black" nor "Asian enough to be Asian", therefore, mixed race children from all these interracial unions in the Cape grew up and married amongst themselves, forming their own community that would later be known as the "
Cape Coloured".

The first interracial marriage in the Cape was between
Krotoa (a Khoi Khoi woman who was a servant, a translator and a crucial negotiator between the Dutch and the Khoi Khoi. Her Dutch name was "Eva Van Meerhof") and
Peter Havgard (a Danish surgeon whom the Dutch renamed as "Pieter Van Meerhof"). Having conceived 3 mixed-race children, Krotoa was known as the mother that gave birth to the Coloured community in South Africa.
Eventually, more Dutch people settled in the Cape, amongst them were the Van Wijk family (whose descendants became 'Van Wyk') who arrived in the Cape in 1686 and the Erasmus family that arrived in 1689.
The
Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
(also known as 'French Huguenots') were French Protestants who escaped from the banishment and persecution of Protestants in France and many of them immigrated to the Dutch Cape Colony to seek refuge amongst the existing Dutch community during the late 1600s and early 1700s. Despite being refugees, they played a huge role on the history of the current
Afrikaans-speaking community, the Cape region as a whole and the rest of South Africa. Coming from a country that has a rich history of wine production, these
French refugees pioneered the vineyards of the Cape Winelands, turning it into one of the biggest wine producers in the world. Although many Huguenots who arrived in the Cape were already married, their children and descendants were soon absorbed into the entire Cape society and after few generations, they spoke
Dutch, not
French. Just like many White-Afrikaans speakers, many Coloured-Afrikaans speakers also have some ancestry from France due to the Huguenots who integrated with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape region.
Through the impact of the Huguenots in the Cape, French names and the French version of other names became very popular within the Afrikaans-speaking community (both White and Coloured) e.g. Jacques, Cheryl, Elaine, André, Michelle, Louis, Chantel/Chantelle, Leon, François, Jaden, Rozanne, Leroy, Monique, René, Lionel.
Due to integration with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape, there are many Afrikaans surnames of French origin e.g.
Le Roux,
De Villiers,
Joubert,
Marais,
Du Plessis,
Visagie,
Pienaar, De Klerk(from 'Le Clerc'),
Fourie, Theron,
Cronje,
Viljoen (from 'Villion'),
Du Toit,
Reyneke, Malan,
Naude,
Terblanche,
De Lille, Fouche,
Minnaar,
Blignaut,
Retief,
Boshoff,
Rossouw,
Olivier and
Cilliers.
During the 1600s and the 1700s, Germany was the Netherlands' biggest trading partner in Europe and due to their good relations, hundreds of thousands of Germans were recruited by the
VOC making Germans the largest foreign Europeans in the Dutch empire.
Throughout the Dutch rule, the VOC sent nearly 15 000 Germans to the Dutch Cape Colony to work as officials, sailors, administrators and soldiers.
Just like the French Huguenots, the Germans in the Dutch Cape Colony were also assimilated into the existing Dutch community and they also learnt Dutch which replaced
German. Eventually, Germans in the Cape became farmers, teachers, traders and ministers.
Almost all Germans who settled in the Cape throughout the Dutch rule were men and therefore, almost all German men in the Cape married women outside their culture (especially African and Asian women).
Due to integration with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape, there are many Afrikaans surnames of German origin e.g.
Botha,
Grobler,
Hartzenberg,
Pretorius,
Booysen,
Steenkamp,
Kruger Krüger, Krueger, Kreuger‘’’’ or Kruger (without the umlaut ü) are German surnames originating from '' Krüger'', meaning tavern-keeper in Low German and potter in Central German and Upper German, both associated with the Germanic wor ...
(from '
Krüger'),
Louw,
Venter,
Cloete,
Schoeman,
Mulder,
Kriel,
Meyer,
Breytenbach,
Engelbrecht,
Potgieter,
Muller, Maritz,
Liebenberg,
Fleischman,
Weimers, and
Schuster. Some few Portuguese people also settled in the Cape and were integrated into the Cape society, which is how the Portuguese surname '
Ferreira' ended up being an Afrikaans surname as well.
With the arrival of more Europeans (as mentioned above), more African and Asian slaves and the recruitment of more Khoi Khoi labourers in the Cape Colony, there were more interracial unions with more mixed-race children who were absorbed into the Cape Coloured community.
The recruitment of Khoi Khoi labourers and the importation of African and Asian slaves continued until the Cape fell under British rule in the early 1800s and eventually, these slaves and labourers were absorbed into the Cape Coloured community.
The predominant Asian slaves in the Cape were the
Malays who came from Indonesia while some also came from
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. Because Indonesia and Malaysia are both predominantly Muslim-states, the slaves who were taken from these 2 countries were the ones who introduced Islam in the Dutch Cape Colony, which became the 2nd largest religion amongst Cape Coloureds, after Christianity. Many Malays were also sent to the Dutch Cape Colony as exiled prisoners who ended up as slaves as a punishment for rebelling against Dutch rule in Indonesia (which was then called the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
).
Although most Malays in the Dutch Cape Colony were interracially absorbed into the Cape Coloured community, a small minority of them preserved their own community and culture, therefore, they became known as the '
Cape Malay
Cape Malays (, in Arabic Afrikaans, Arabic script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifi ...
'.
Eventually, other Muslims(especially Indian slaves and merchants from the Middle East and North Africa) were absorbed into the Cape Malay community. However, during
Apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
, the Cape Malays were classified as a sub-group of 'Coloureds' due to similar ancestry with the Cape Coloureds and because South Africa's population was grouped into four races under the
Population Registration Act, 1950:
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
,
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
,
Coloured and
Indian.
Therefore, many Cape Malays were forced to live in Coloured communities during Apartheid.
During the 17th century (in this case, from 1652 to 1700), the Dutch Cape Colony consisted only of present-day
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
with its surrounding areas (such as
Paarl
Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...
,
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch (; )[A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.](_blank)
Thomas Baldwin ...
,
Franschhoek etc.). From the 18th century until the formation of the
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...
in 1910, the territory of the Cape expanded gradually to the north and east.
The expansion of the Dutch Cape Colony was mainly caused by the dry and infertile nature of its immediate interior, therefore farmers needed fertile land because farms could only be settled where there were springs to provide permanent water.
However, the expansion was also influenced by emigration of the
Trekboers, who left the Dutch Cape Colony and migrated into the
Karoo during the 18th century and due to British rule during the 19th century. By the 1750s, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached present-day
Swellendam and by the end of the Dutch rule (after British annexation in 1814), the territory of the Cape had already reached certain parts of present-day
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
and the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
, leading to the arrival of Afrikaners/Boers with their multiracial slaves in different parts of the Cape.
When the Cape fell under British rule during the 19th century, it continued to expand until it reached the border with other colonies and with the
Boer republics. With the gradual expansion of the Cape, the migration of the trekboer, the migration of Afrikaners/Boers with their multiracial slaves and the additional arrival of various European nationalities (such as the British, Irish etc.), there were more interracial unions throughout the
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...
: this time between the white and the
Khoisan
Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
s in present-day
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
, and between the white and the
Xhosa in present-day
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
, with more mixed race children being conceived, who also became part of the Cape Coloureds.
Miscegenation in the eastern part of the Cape (which is now the '
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
') dates to the late 1600s which began as a result of the shipwrecks. The
Wild Coast Region of the Eastern Cape (which stretches from the provincial border with Natal to
East London and
Port Alfred) is named after its wilderness and the stormy seas that caused thousands of shipwrecks, especially during the 1700s. Survivors of the shipwrecks (most of whom were Europeans while some were Asians) settled on the Wild Coast. Having no means to return home, most survivors remained permanently in the Eastern Cape and mixed with the Xhosa. Within the same period, many escaped slaves from the Dutch Cape Colony found refuge amongst the Xhosa, then they were assimilated into Xhosa society, and then they were soon followed by the
Trekboers who were on their way to the
Karoo, while some of them settled in the Eastern Cape where they mixed with the Xhosa and the Khoi Khoi. The most notorious Trekboer to do so was
Coenraad De Buys, who fathered many mixed race children with his many African wives (who were Khoi Khoi and Xhosa) and one of them was Chief Ngqika's mother, Yese, wife of Mlawu kaRarabe. During the last years of Dutch rule, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached the Western portion of the Eastern Cape, especially in the
Graaff-Reinet region which led to the arrival of Boers/Afrikaners with their multiracial slaves.
Miscegenation in the Eastern Cape continued during the 1800s until the early 1900s with the arrival of British, Irish and German settlers, many of whom mixed with the Xhosa and eventually multiracial people in the Eastern Cape also became part of the Cape Coloured.
In the Northern region of the Cape (which is now the '
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
'), miscegenation began in the 1700s, shortly after the arrival of the
Trekboers that left the Dutch Cape Colony (fleeing from autocratic rule) and many settled in the
Karoo while some settled in
Namaqualand. Some Trekboers even went as far as the
Orange River and beyond to the Southern part of the
Kalahari and in all these areas, they met the
Khoisan
Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
s(the
San and the
Khoi Khoi). To survive in this hot and dry region, the Trekboers adopted the nomadic lifestyle of the Khoisans and some even mixed with the Khoisans. During the last years of Dutch rule, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached the Southern portion of the Northern Cape, leading to the arrival of Boers/Afrikaners with their multiracial slaves.
In the early 1800s, the
Griqua people left the Dutch Cape Colony and half of them migrated to the North of the Karoo where they established a Griqua state called '
Griqualand West
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...
'. Then the
Basters,
Oorlams and some Cape Coloureds migrated to the North as well and some of them even went as far as present-day
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
.
In the latter half of the 1800s, large sums of diamond, Uranium, Copper and Iron ore were discovered in the Northern Cape which attracted many Europeans, many of whom mixed with the San, Khoi khoi, Tswana in the North-East and the Xhosa in the South-East and then multiracial people in the Northern Cape also became part of the Cape Coloured.
After British annexation in 1814, slavery was abolished in the Cape in 1834, which lead to the
Great Trek when the
Boers left the Cape as
Voortrekkers and migrated into the interior of South Africa to form the
Boer republics. Most of the freed slaves (who became Cape Coloureds) remained behind. Many freed slaves moved to an area in Cape Town that became known as
District Six. Throughout the 1800s (especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834) and the early 1900s, the Cape received an influx of refugees, immigrants and indentured labourers from:
Britain, Ireland, Germany, Lithuania, St Helena, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, the Middle East, West Africa, North Africa and East Africa (the majority of all these groups were absorbed into the Cape Coloured community).

In the 1800s, the Philippines, at the time a Spanish colony, experienced a harsh rebellion against Spanish colonial rule, so many Filipinos fled to different parts of the world. In the late 1830s, the first Filipinos to arrive in the Cape settled in
Kalk Bay, Cape Town where they fished for a living and then Kalk Bay became their new home. When word reached the Philippines, many more Filipinos flocked to Kalk Bay, and they were soon scattered throughout Cape Town and other parts of the region that is now the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
, where most of them were eventually absorbed into the Cape Coloured community. As a result, many Cape Coloureds can trace some of their roots to the Philippines due to the Filipinos of Kalk Bay.
Many Filipinos who settled in the Cape were also
mixed with some Spanish ancestry as a result of the Spaniards who mixed with the indigenous people of the Philippines while some were simply
Spanish Filipinos of Spanish descent, therefore, some Cape Coloureds can also trace some of their roots to Spain due to the Filipinos of Kalk Bay.
Within the Cape Coloured community, surnames from the Filipinos of Kalk Bay (which are mostly Spanish surnames that the Filipinos got from the Spaniards) are Gomez, Pascal, Torrez, De La Cruz, Fernandez, Florez (also spelt as 'Floris'), Manuel, and Garcia.
In 1888, Oromo slave children from Ethiopia (who were headed for Arabia) were rescued and freed by British troops.
In 1890, the British troops brought these freed Oromo slaves to
Lovedale Mission in present-day Eastern Cape where many of them became part of the Cape Coloured.
The late
Dr Neville Alexander's grandmother, Bisho Jarsa, was a freed Oromo slave from Ethiopia.
By the turn of the 20th century, District Six became more established and cosmopolitan. Although its population was predominantly Cape Coloured, District Six (just like many places in the Cape) was diverse with different ethnicities, races and nationalities living there (this includes Blacks, Whites, Jews, Cape Malays and Asian immigrants such as the Indians, Chinese, Japanese etc.) Many of these groups were absorbed into the Cape coloured community. The whole Cape Colony (including the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape) also attracted many European immigrants of various nationalities (including Scandinavians, Portuguese, Greeks, Italians etc.), many of whom married into the Cape Coloured community while some mixed with other ethnic groups, whose children got absorbed into the Cape Coloured community, further diversifying the ancestry of Cape Coloureds.
During the 20th century (under British rule from 1910 to 1948 and the Apartheid regime from 1948 to 1994), many
Khoisan
Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
s living in the
Cape Province were assimilated into the Cape Coloured community, especially in the North of the Cape (now the '
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
'). As a result, many Cape Coloureds, especially from the Northern Cape, share close ties with the San and the Khoi Khoi, especially those living in the Namaqualand region, around the Orange river and the Kalahari region.
As a result, the Cape Coloureds ended up having the most diverse ancestry in the world with a blend of so many different cultures mixed together.
Cape Coloureds in the media
A group of Cape Coloureds were interviewed in the documentary series ''
Ross Kemp on Gangs''. One of the gang members who participated in the interview mentioned that black South Africans have been the main beneficiaries of South African social promotion initiatives while the Cape Coloureds have been further marginalised.
The 2009 film ''I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured – Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope'' (Monde World Films, US release) is one of the first historical documentary films to explore the legacy of Apartheid through the viewpoint of the Cape Coloured community, including interviews with elders, pastors, members of Parliament, students and everyday people struggling to find their identity in the new South Africa. The film's 2016 sequel ''Word of Honour: Reclaiming Mandela's Promise'' (Monde World Films, US release)
Various books have covered the subject matter of Coloured identity and heritage.
Patric Tariq Mellet, heritage activist and author of 'The Camissa Embrace' and co-creator of The Camissa Museum, has composed a vast online blog archive ('Camissa People') of heritage information concerning Coloured ancestry tracing to the Indigenous San and Khoe and Malagasy, East African, Indonesian, Indian, Bengal and Sri Lankan slaves.
Terminology
The term "
coloureds" is currently treated as a neutral description in Southern Africa, classifying people of mixed race ancestry. "Coloured" may be seen as offensive in some other western countries, such as Britain and the United States of America.
The most used racial slurs against Cape Coloureds are
Hottentot or ''hotnot'' and
Kaffir. The term "hotnot" is a derogatory term used to refer to
Khoisan people and coloureds in South Africa. The term originated from the Dutch language, where "Hottentot" was used to describe a language spoken by the Khoisan people. It later came to be used as a derogatory term for the people themselves, based on European perceptions of their physical appearance and culture. The term is often used to demean and dehumanize Khoisan and coloured people, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and discrimination against them.
The term "Kaffir" is a racial slur used to refer to coloured people and black people in South Africa. It originated from Arabic and was used to refer to non-Muslims. Later, it was used by European-descended South Africans to refer to black and coloured people during the apartheid era, and the term became associated with racism and oppression. While it is still used against Coloured people, it is not as prevalent as it is against black people.
[Mathabane, M. (1986). Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Simon & Schuster. (Chapter 2)]
People
Politicians
*
Midi Achmat, South African writer and
LGBT rights activist
*
Zackie Achmat, South African HIV/AIDS activist and filmmaker
*
Neville Alexander, Political activist, educationalist and lecturer.
*
Allan Boesak, Political activist and cleric.
*
Patricia de Lille, former
PAC, then
Independent Democrats leader, then
Democratic Alliance mayor of
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, now leader of Good Party
*
Tony Ehrenreich, South African
trades union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
ist.
*
Zainunnisa Gool, South African Political activist and representative on the
Cape Town City Council.
*
Alex La Guma, South African novelist and leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation.
*
Trevor Manuel, former Finance Minister, currently Head of the
National Planning Commission of South Africa.
*
Peter Marais, former Unicity Mayor of Cape Town and Former Premier of the Western Cape
*
Gerald Morkel, former mayor of
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
*
Dan Plato, Western Cape Community Safety Minister.
*
Dulcie September, political activist.
*
Adam Small, political activist, poet and writer.
*
Percy Sonn, former president of the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
.
*
Simon van der Stel, last commander and first Governor of the
Dutch Cape Colony.
Artists and writers
*
Peter Abrahams, writer
*
Tyrone Appollis, academic
*
Willie Bester
*
Dennis Brutus, journalist, poet, activist
*
Peter Clarke
*
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, writer and performance artist
*
Garth Erasmus, artist
*
Diana Ferrus, poet, writer and performance artist
*
Oliver Hermanus, writer, director
*
Rozena Maart, writer
*
Mustafa Maluka
* Dr.
Don Mattera
*
James Matthews, writer
*
Selwyn Milborrow, poet, writer, journalist
*
Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh
*
Arthur Nortje, poet
*
Robin Rhode
*
Richard Moore Rive, writer
*
Tracey Rose
*
Adam Small, writer
*
Zoë Wicomb, writer
*
Athol Williams, poet, writer, scholar,
social philosopher
Actors and actresses
*
Quanita Adams, actress
*
Natalie Becker, actress
*
Lesley-Ann Brandt, actress
*
Meryl Cassie, actress
*
Vincent Ebrahim, actor
*
Vinette Ebrahim, actress
*
Kim Engelbrecht, actress
*
Jarrid Geduld, actor
*
Shannon Kook, actor
*
Kandyse McClure, actress
*
Shamilla Miller, actress
*
Blossom Tainton-Lindquist
Beauty queens
*
Tansey Coetzee, Miss South Africa 2007
*
Tamaryn Green, Miss South Africa 2018
*
Pearl Jansen, Miss World 1st runner up 1970, competed as Miss Africa South due to Apartheid
*
Amy Kleinhans, former Miss South Africa 1992 and first non-white Miss South Africa.
*
Liesl Laurie, Miss South Africa 2015
*
Jo-Ann Strauss, Miss South Africa 2000, media personality and business woman.
Musicians
*
AKA, hip-hop recording artist
*
Fallon Bowman, South African-born guitarist, singer, and actor.
*
Jonathan Butler,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
musician.
*
Blondie Chaplin, singer and guitarist for the Beach Boys.
*
Paxton Fielies, singer
*
Jean Grae, hip-hop artist.
*
Paul Hanmer, pianist and composer
*
Abdullah Ibrahim, jazz pianist
*
Robbie Jansen, musician
*
Trevor Jones, South African-born film composer.
*
Taliep Petersen, musician and director
*
YoungstaCPT, rapper
Others
*
Marc Lottering, comedian
*
Jenny Powell, television presenter.
Athletics
*
Shaun Abrahams, 800m runner
*
Cornel Fredericks, track-and-field sprinter
*
Paul Gorries, Sprinter
*
Leigh Julius, 2004–08 Olympian
*
Geraldine Pillay, 2004 Olympian, Commonwealth medallist
*
Wayde van Niekerk, track-and-field sprinter, Olympic and World Champion, and World Record Holder
Cricket
*
Paul Adams
*
Vincent Barnes
*
Loots Bosman
*
Henry Davids
*
Basil D'Oliveira
*
Damian D'Oliveira
*
JP Duminy
*
Herschelle Gibbs
*
Beuran Hendricks
*
Reeza Hendricks
*
Omar Henry
*
Garnett Kruger
*
Charl Langeveldt
*
Wayne Parnell
*
Alviro Petersen
*
Robin Peterson
*
Keegan Petersen
*
Vernon Philander
*
Dane Piedt
*
Ashwell Prince
*
Roger Telemachus
*
Clyde Fortuin
Field hockey
*
Clyde Abrahams
*
Liesel Dorothy
*
Ignatius Malgraff
Football
*
Keegan Allan
*
Kurt Abrahams
*
Cole Alexander
*
Oswin Appollis
*
Andre Arendse
*
Tyren Arendse
*
Wayne Arendse
*
Bradley August
*
Brendan Augustine
*
Emile Baron
*
Shaun Bartlett
*
Tyrique Bartlett
*
David Booysen
*
Mario Booysen
*
Ethan Brooks
*
Delron Buckley
*
Brent Carelse
*
Daylon Claasen
*
Rivaldo Coetzee
*
Keanu Cupido
*
Clayton Daniels
*
Lance Davids
*
Rushine De Reuck
*
Keagan Dolly
*
Kermit Erasmus
*
Jody February
*
Taariq Fielies
*
Quinton Fortune
*
Lyle Foster
*
Bevan Fransman
*
Stanton Fredericks
*
Reeve Frosler
*
Ruzaigh Gamildien
*
Morgan Gould
*
Victor Gomes, referee
*
Travis Graham
*
Ashraf Hendricks
*
Rowan Human
*
Rudi Isaacs
*
Willem Jackson
*
Moeneeb Josephs
*
David Kannemeyer
*
Ricardo Katza
*
Daine Klate
*
Lyle Lakay
*
Lee Langeveldt
*
Clinton Larsen
*
Luke Le Roux
*
Stanton Lewis
*
Benni McCarthy,
South Africa national team's all-time top scorer with 31 goals
*
Fabian McCarthy
*
Leroy Maluka
*
Grant Margeman
*
Bryce Moon
*
Nasief Morris
*
Tashreeq Morris
*
James Musa
*
Andile Ncobo, referee
*
Morne Nel
*
Andras Nemeth
*
Reagan Noble
*
Brad Norman
*
Riyaad Norodien
*
Bernard Parker
*
Genino Palace
*
Peter Petersen
*
Brandon Peterson
*
Steven Pienaar
*
Reyaad Pieterse
*
Wayne Roberts
*
Frank Schoeman
*
Ebrahim Seedat
*
Brandon Silent
Brandon Silent (born 22 January 1973) is a South African former association football, footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a right-sided midfielder and fullback.
He was nicknamed "Sgcebezana" (Homunculus) becau ...
*
Elrio van Heerden
*
Dino Visser
*
Shu-Aib Walters
*
Mark Williams, scored both goals to win the
1996 African Cup of Nations final
*
Ronwen Williams
*
Robyn Johannes
Rugby
*
Gio Aplon
*
Nizaam Carr
*
Kurt Coleman, Western Province and Stormers player
*
Bolla Conradie
*
Juan de Jongh
*
Peter de Villiers
*
Justin Geduld, Sprinbok 7's
*
Bryan Habana
*
Cornal Hendricks
*
Adrian Jacobs
*
Conrad Jantjes
*
Elton Jantjies
*
Herschel Jantjies
*
Ricky Januarie
*
Ashley Johnson
*
Cheslin Kolbe, Western Province and Stormers player
*
Dillyn Leyds, Western Province and Stormers player
*
Lionel Mapoe
*
Breyton Paulse
*
Earl Rose
*
Tian Schoeman
*
Errol Tobias
*
Jaco van Tonder
*
Ashwin Willemse
*
Chester Williams
Others
*
Christopher Gabriel – basketball player
*
Raven Klaasen – tennis player
*
Devon Petersen – darts player
*
Kenny Solomon – South Africa's first chess grandmaster
See also
*
Cape Corps
*
District Six
*
Kaapse Klopse
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{authority control
Afrikaner diaspora
Coloureds
History of the Dutch East India Company