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Coloureds () are
multiracial people The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
and, to a smaller extent,
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
and
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South Africa began in the 17th century in the
Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...
where the Dutch men mixed with Khoi Khoi women, Bantu women and Asian female slaves, producing mixed race children. Eventually, interracial mixing occurred throughout South Africa and the rest 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 ...
with various other European nationals (such as the Portuguese, British, Germans, Irish etc.) who mixed with other African tribes which contributed to the growing number of mixed-race people, who would later be officially classified as Coloured by the
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 ...
government. ''Coloured'' was a legally defined
racial classification Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
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 ...
referring to anyone not white or of the black
Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...
tribes, which effectively largely meant people of colour. The majority of coloureds are found in the Western Cape, but are prevalent throughout the country. According to the
2022 South African census The South African National Census of 2022 is the 4th comprehensive census performed by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The census results were released on 10 October 2023 and recorded a total of 62 million people in the country. Key findi ...
, Coloureds represent 8.15% of people within South Africa, while 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 ...
and 41.6% in 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 ...
, representing a plurality of the population in these two
provinces of South Africa South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 South African general election, 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, known as Bantustans, were reintegrated into the country, and the four provinces were incr ...
. In the Western Cape, a distinctive
Cape Coloured 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, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between th ...
and affiliated
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 ...
culture developed. Genetic studies suggest the group has the highest levels of mixed ancestry in the world. The apartheid-era
Population Registration Act, 1950 The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics as part of the system of apartheid. Social rights, political rights, educational ...
and subsequent amendments, codified the Coloured identity and defined its subgroups, including Cape Coloureds and Malays.
Indian South Africans Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British Raj, British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it ...
were initially classified under the act as a subgroup of Coloured. As a consequence of Apartheid policies and despite the abolition of the Population Registration Act in 1991, Coloureds are regarded as one of four race groups in South Africa. These groups (
blacks Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ch ...
,
whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...
, Coloureds and Indians) still tend to have strong racial identities and to classify themselves and others as members of these race groups. The classification continues to persist in government policy, to an extent, as a result of attempts at redress such as
Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cr ...
and
Employment Equity Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...
.


Ancestral Background


South Africa

South Africa is known as a '
Rainbow nation "Rainbow nation" is a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa after South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. The phrase was elaborated upon by President Nelson Mandela in his first month of off ...
' because of its diverse cultures, tribes, races, religions and nationalities. As a result of this diversity, Coloured people in South Africa have different ancestries as they come from different regions in the country that have different ethnic groups.


Dutch Cape Colony/Cape Colony/Cape Province

The first and the largest phase of interracial marriages/
Miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
in South Africa happened in the
Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...
and the rest of the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
which began from the 17th century, shortly after the arrival of Dutch settlers, who were led by
Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...
, through the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
(also known as the 'VOC'). 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 Malays ( ; , Jawi: ) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries ...
from present-day Indonesia and the
Bantu people The Bantu peoples are an Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native Demographics of Africa, African List of ethnic groups of Africa, ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The language ...
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.https://study.com/academy/lesson/cape-coloureds-origins-culture.html?msockid=31e14f9a4e30671f2e725b284f306666 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 The one-drop rule was a legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th-century United States. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of African ancestry ("one drop" of "black blood")Davis, F. James. Front ...
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 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, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between th ...
". The first interracial marriage in the Cape was between
Krotoa The "!Oroǀõas" ("Ward (law), Ward-girl"), spelled in Dutch language, Dutch as Krotoa or Kroket, otherwise known by her Christian name Eva (c. 1643 – 29 July 1674), was a Strandloper peoples, !Uriǁ'aeǀona translator who worked for the Dutch ...
(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 Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
(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 French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a ...
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 Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
, not
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
. 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.https://www.academia.edu/109760433/Encounter_at_the_Cape_French_Huguenots_the_Khoi_and_Other_People_of_Color 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 de Villiers is a common French language, French and Afrikaans surname. de Villiers or Devilliers may refer to: *De Villiers (playwright) (c. 1600–1681), French playwright and actor *AB de Villiers, South Africa national cricket team, South Afr ...
, Joubert,
Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (com ...
,
Du Plessis Plessis (Afrikaans: du Plessis) Plessy, and de Plessis are related surnames of French origin, may refer to: A ''plessis'' meant a ''fence made of interwoven branches'' in Old French. French people * Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu (1582 ...
,
Visagie The origins of the surname "Visagie", is believed to originate from Flanders (Belgium) at the turn of the 17th century. Visagie history The surname branching off from the surname Visage and has been connected to a man named Pieter Visagie (circa ...
, Pienaar, De Klerk(from 'Le Clerc'), Fourie, Theron,
Cronje Cronje is a surname mainly common among Afrikaners of Huguenot descent. Notable people with the name include: *Andrew Cronje (born 1984), South African field hockey player *Andries Petrus Cronjé (1833-1916), Orange Free State Volksraad, cabinet m ...
,
Viljoen Viljoen is an Afrikaans surname, derived from the French ''Villion''. It was brought to South Africa in 1671 by French Huguenots who subsequently intermarried with the local Dutch population. The progenitors of the extended Viljoen clan are Fran ...
(from 'Villion'), Du Toit, Reyneke, Malan,
Naude Naude is an 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, Sarmien ...
,
Terblanche Terblanche is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Claire Terblanche (born 1984), South African cricketer *Daleen Terblanche (born 1969), South African cricketer *De-Jay Terblanche (born 1985), South African rugby union footballer * ...
,
De Lille Delille or DeLille is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Daniel Armand-Delille (1906–1957), French bobsledder who competed in the early 1930s *Henriette DeLille (1813–1862), founded the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Ho ...
, Fouche,
Minnaar Minnaar may refer to: People *Anacadia Minnaar (born 2000), South African rugby sevens player *Charles Minnaar (1882–1916), South African cricketeer *Chase Minnaar (born 1986), South African rugby union player *Dawid Minnaar (born 1956), South A ...
,
Blignaut Blignaut is an Afrikaans surname, derived from the French language, French ''Blignault/Blignot''. It may refer to: *Aegidius Jean Blignaut (1899–1994), South African author *Alex Blignaut (1932–2001), racing driver and motor racing team owner fr ...
,
Retief Retief is an Afrikaans surname. It may refer to: *Piet Retief (1780–1838), prominent voortrekker *Glen Retief, South African writer *Johan Retief (born 1946), former Chief of the South African Navy *Johan Retief (rugby union) (born 1995), Namibian ...
,
Boshoff Boshoff is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Carel Boshoff (1927–2011), South African professor of theology and Afrikaner cultural activist * Cristina Boshoff (born 1980), South African folk pop singer and pianist * Gert Bosho ...
, Rossouw,
Olivier Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popula ...
and
Cilliers Cilliers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cecile Cilliers (1933–2018), Afrikaans writer *Charl Cilliers (writer) (born 1941), South African author and poet *Ina Cilliers (born 1969), South African politician *Jana 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 VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...
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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
. 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 Botha (pronounced in non-rhotic dialects of English, ) is a common Afrikaans surname, derived from the East Frisian Low Saxon '' Both''. It was brought to South Africa in 1678 by Frederich Botha. The progenitors of the extended clan were Maria Kic ...
,
Grobler Grobler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bradley Grobler (born 1988), South African footballer * Du Preez Grobler (born 1977), Namibian rugby union player * Gerbrandt Grobler (born 1992), South African rugby union player * ...
,
Hartzenberg Hartzenberg is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ferdi Hartzenberg (1936–2021), South African politician * Munier Hartzenberg (born 1997), South African rugby union player * Yaya Hartzenberg (born 1989), South African rugby ...
, Pretorius,
Booysen Booysen is an Afrikaans surname, also spelled Booyze, Booyse and Booysens. It is related to the English language, English surname Boyce (disambiguation), Boyce and Boysen (disambiguation), Boysen in other Germanic languages. The ''Stamvader'' Boy ...
,
Steenkamp Steenkamp is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *De Kock Steenkamp (born 1987), South African rugby union player *Ewald Steenkamp (born 1988), Namibian cricketer *Gurthrö Steenkamp (born 1981), South African rugby union player *Ja ...
,
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 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 word w ...
'), Louw,
Venter Venter or Venters is an Afrikaans (and rarely, Jewish) surname, and may refer to: Venter * AJ Venter (b. 1973), South African rugby union footballer * Al J Venter (b. 1938), author * André Venter (b. 1970), South African rugby union footballer * ...
, Cloete,
Schoeman Schoeman is a South African surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adri Schoeman (born 1970), retired South African sprinter, specialized in 400 metres *Anriette Schoeman (born 1977), South African road cyclist *Ben Schoeman (1905–198 ...
,
Mulder Mulder is a surname of two possible origins: Dutch and German. It may be Dutch language occupational surname. It is an archaic Dutch word for "miller" (modern Dutch: '' molenaar''). With 38,207 people in the Netherlands named Mulder, it was the 12 ...
,
Kriel Kriel is an Afrikaans surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Anneline Kriel, South African model and actress *Ashley Kriel (1966–1987), South African activist * Hernus Kriel (1941–2015), first Premier of the Western Cape province * ...
,
Meyer Meyer may refer to: People *Meyer (surname), listing people so named * Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Companies * Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company * Meyer Corporation * Meyer Sound Labo ...
,
Breytenbach The surname Breytenbach originates from Germany. Notable people with the name include: * Anna Breytenbach (born 1968), South African animal activist and public speaker * Breyten Breytenbach (1939–2024), South African writer, poet, and painter * C ...
,
Engelbrecht Engelbrecht (or Englebrecht, Engelbrekt) is a common family name (surname) of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. The name ''Engelbrecht'' has multiple translations, including "Angel Glorious" and "Bright Angel". The Surname Database says the name ...
, Potgieter,
Muller Muller is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–H *Alexandre Muller (born 1997), French tennis player * A. Charles Muller (born 1953), translator * Bauke Muller (born 1962), Dutch bridge player * Bennie Muller (1938–2024), ...
, Maritz,
Liebenberg Liebenberg is a surname, and may refer to: * Adolf von Liebenberg, Austrian scientist * Andreas Liebenberg (1938–1998), South African military officer * Anrune Liebenberg, South African para-athlete * Brian Liebenberg, South African-born French r ...
, 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 The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics as part of the system of apartheid. Social rights, political rights, educational ...
:
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 Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
. 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.
Thomas Baldwin ...
,
Franschhoek Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'', French: ''Le Coin Français'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. It was formerly known as Oliph ...
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 The Trekboers ( ) were nomadic pastoralists descended from mostly Dutch colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town, ...
, who left the Dutch Cape Colony and migrated into the
Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...
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 Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...
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 Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
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 East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...
and
Port Alfred Port Alfred is a small town with a population of just under 26,000 in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the eastern seaboard of the country at the mouth of the Kowie River, almost exactly halfway between the larger ci ...
) 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 The Trekboers ( ) were nomadic pastoralists descended from mostly Dutch colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town, ...
who were on their way to the
Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...
, 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 Coenraad De Buys (1761 – 1821) was described as "a remarkable figure" on the frontier of the Cape Colony. Travellers described him with awe. Their accounts mentioned that he was an impressive figure, nearly seven foot tall and with enormous ...
, 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 Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...
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 The Trekboers ( ) were nomadic pastoralists descended from mostly Dutch colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town, ...
that left the Dutch Cape Colony (fleeing from autocratic rule) and many settled in the
Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...
while some settled in
Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...
. Some Trekboers even went as far as the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...
and beyond to the Southern part of the
Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
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 The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...
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 The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has ...
,
Oorlams The Oorlam or Orlam people (also known as Orlaam, Oorlammers, Oerlams, or Orlamse Hottentots) are a subtribe of the Nama people, largely assimilated after their migration from the Cape Colony (today, part of South Africa) to Namaqualand and Dam ...
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 The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...
when the
Boers Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
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 District Six (Afrikaans: ''Distrik Ses'') is a residential neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, located next to the city's Cape Town CBD, CBD. In 1959, people of color were banned from the area and most of them were resettled in Gugulet ...
. Throughout the 1800s (especially after the abolishment 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, Middle East, West Africa, North Africa and East Africa(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 Kalk Bay (Afrikaans: ''Kalkbaai'') is a fishing village and suburb of Cape Town. It lies on the west coast of False Bay. Much of the town is built on the slopes of mountains which border the sea, with peaks of Table Mountain Sandstone forming val ...
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 Spanish Filipino or Hispanic Filipino (Spanish: Español Filipino, Hispano Filipino, Tagalog: Kastílang Pilipino, Cebuano: Katsílà) are people of Spanish and Filipino heritage. The term may also include Filipino mestizos of Spanish ancestr ...
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 Lovedale may refer to: * Lovedale, New South Wales, a locality in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales *Lovedale (South Africa), a mission station and educational institute in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa * Lovedale, India, a Hill Station in ...
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 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 The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...
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 have the most diverse ancestry in the world with a blend of many different ancestries. However, not every Cape Coloured has the same ancestry. At least one genetic study indicates that most Cape Coloureds have ancestries from the following ethnic groups: * African (
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 ...
): ~ 25,3% * Europeans: 39,3% * African (
Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...
): ~ 15,5% * Peoples from
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
: 19,9%Petersen DC, Libiger O, Tindall EA, Hardie RA, Hannick LI, Glashoff RH, Mukerji M; Indian Genome Variation Consortium; Fernandez P, Haacke W, Schork NJ, Hayes VM. Complex patterns of genomic admixture within southern Africa. PLoS Genet. 2013;9(3):e1003309. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003309. Epub 2013 Mar 14. PMID 23516368; PMCID: PMC3597481. It is important to note here that 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". In the 21st century, Coloured people constitute a plurality of the population in the provinces of
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 ...
(48.8%), and a large minority in 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 ...
(40.3%), both areas of centuries of mixing among the populations. In 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 ...
, they make up (8.3%) of the population. Line 119 ⟶ 93:


Griqua

During the 17th and 18th century in the Dutch Cape Colony, interracial unions that were primarily between the
West European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
(especially the Dutch) and the Khoi Khoi created a group of mixed-race individuals that became known as the
Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people, of South Africa * Griqua language or Xiri language, their endangered Khoi language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (), known as the Suzuki Griquas for sponsorship reasons, are a South African professional rugby ...
. The Griqua people could trace their forefathers to two clans, the Koks and Barendse, the first was made up mainly of Khoikhoi and the second of mixed European descent. Genetic studies made in the 21st century have revealed that the Griquas also have
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
, San, and
Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...
ancestry. What separates the Griquas from the Cape Coloureds is that the Griquas do not have Asian ancestry within their bloodline and unlike the Cape Coloureds who adopted the Western and Asian lifestyle, the Griquas clung more to the African lifestyle, most particularly that of the Khoi Khoi. The actual name 'Griqua' was derived from the Chariaguriqua people whose princess became the wife of the first Griqua leader, Adam Kok. As a result of discrimination and the smallpox disease that occurred in the Cape Colony, Adam Kok (a Griqua leader who was also a liberated slave) led the Griquas in migrating to other regions in South Africa and formed two Griqua states:
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 ...
and
Griqualand East Griqualand East (Afrikaans: ''Griekwaland-Oos''), officially known as New Griqualand ( Dutch: ''Nieuw Griqualand''), was one of four short-lived Griqua states in Southern Africa from the early 1860s until the late 1870s and was located between ...
. Griqualand West was located 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 ...
while Griqualand East was located between present-day
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
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 ...
. Unfortunately, with the expansion of the Cape Colony, which was under British rule this time, the two Griqua states ceased to exist and were annexed into the Cape colony. During the Apartheid regime (1948-1994), Griquas were classified as Coloureds due to their mixed-race ancestry and they were forced to live in Coloured communities in South Africa under the
Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...
. Due to the racial policies and the racial hierarchy of South Africa's demographics during Apartheid, many Griquas accepted the classification of "Coloured" for fear that their Griqua roots might place them at a lower level than other groups. As a result, it is difficult to estimate and determine the actual size of the Griqua population, therefore, it remains unknown. Although Griquas are scattered across the country (due to historic migrations), the majority of Coloureds that come from the
Griekwastad Griekwastad is a country town in South Africa. It is sometimes still called Griquatown (the meaning of the town's name in Afrikaans), a name which is now considered historical. On maps from the 1840s is the town also called "Karrikamma". or calle ...
area in 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 ...
, the
Kokstad Kokstad is a town in the Harry Gwala District Municipality of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Kokstad is named after the Griqua chief Adam Kok III who settled here in 1863. Kokstad is the capital town of the East Griqualand region, ...
area in
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
and the
Kranshoek Kranshoek is a settlement in Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces ...
area 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 ...
are either directly Griqua or they are the descendants of Griquas.


Colony of Natal/Natal province

Another phase of interracial marriages/miscegenation in South Africa happened in the
Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...
(present-day
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
) during the 19th century and early 20th century. This time, it was mainly between the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and the Zulu with an addition of British intermixing with
Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
and the arrival of immigrants from
St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
, and
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
that married locally. To a certain extent, miscegenation in Natal also involved the Irish, German, Norwegian and the
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
. Blood group phenotype and gene frequency studies showed that the Natal Coloured population contains a mixture of approximately 40% Black, 30% White and 30% Indian (Asian) genes. After the Boer republic Natalia was annexed by the British rulers, it became the
Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
in 1845. When the British started settling in Natal from the mid-19th century, they established sugarcane plantations especially in the coastal regions (
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
,
Stanger KwaDukuza, previously known as Stanger, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates towns such as Stanger, Ballito and Shakaskraal), but the Zulu people in the area called it ...
etc.) and these plantations required intensive labour as well. Struggling to find labour from the local Zulu, the British decided to import thousands of labourers from India to work on the sugarcane plantations of Natal. Just like the Dutch settlers in the Cape, most of the British settlers in Natal were men, therefore, many of them married Zulu women while some married Indian women and mixed-race children were also conceived and eventually, multiracial people in Natal became 'Natal Coloureds'. Sometimes the White administrators who had fathered children from Zulu women would put their mixed-race children in the care of Coloured families in the area. Other times it was the African woman that conceived a mixed-race child from 'Umlungu' (a white person) that initiated giving up the child. In this way, interracial unions and marriages became common and a separate community grew. The descendants of all these interracial unions remain in
Nongoma Nongoma is a town in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the seat of the Nongoma Local Municipality. It is situated 300 km north of Durban and 56 km from Ulundi; it is surrounded by the Ngome Forest. It is a busy market tow ...
,
Eshowe Eshowe is the oldest town of European settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, historically also known as Eziqwaqweni, Ekowe or kwaMondi. Eshowe's name is said to be inspired by the sound of wind blowing through the more than 4 km2 of the indig ...
,
Mandeni Mandeni (also Mandini) is a town in iLembe District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The town is roughly 22 km north-east of Stanger and 96 km north of Durban. The town has four shopping centres, namely: Mande ...
, Mangete, Nqabeni, Umuziwabantu, and iziNqolwene. Some of the British men with interracial marriages in Natal practised polygamy, having multiple Zulu wives while others had multiple Zulu concubines. The perfect example of this is
John Robert Dunn John Robert Dunn (1834 – 5 August 1895) was a South African hunter and diplomat of British descent. Born in Port Alfred in 1834, he spent his childhood in Port Natal/Durban. He was orphaned as a teenager, and lived in native dress on the land ...
, a white trader with Scottish parents who became a Zulu chief with 48 Zulu wives and 118 mixed race children; and most of his mixed-race descendants (who became 'Coloureds' in Natal) still live in present-day
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
. Another British man who practised polygamy was
Henry Fynn Henry Francis Fynn (29 March 1803 in Grosvenor Square, London, England – 20 September 1861 in Durban, Colony of Natal) was an English traveler and trader. He was among the first Europeans to make contact with King Shaka. Fynn, Coenraad D ...
who had four Zulu wives and multiple mixed-race children. Although Henry Ogle (a British trader from
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
) married an English wife named Janie and had a son named Henry, he also fathered multiple mixed-race children with his Zulu concubines at his kraal near
Umkomaas Umkomaas, also known by its official name eMkhomazi, is a small coastal town on the subtropical South Coast (KwaZulu-Natal), South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was formed when a harbour was built in 1861 to export sugar. The town rests b ...
.


Apartheid

During the apartheid era in South Africa of the second half of the 20th century, the government used the term "Coloured" to describe one of the four main racial groups it defined by law (the fourth was "Asian," later "Indian"). This was an effort to impose
white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
and maintain racial divisions. Individuals were classified as
White South Africans White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...
(formally classified as "European"),
Black South Africans Bantu speaking people are the majority ethno-racial group in South Africa. They are descendants of Southern Bantu-speaking peoples who settled in South Africa during the Bantu expansion. They are referred to in various census as ''blacks'', or ...
(formally classified as "Native", "Bantu" or simply "African" and constituting the majority of the population), Coloureds (mixed-race) and
Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
(formally classified as "Asian"). The census in South Africa during 1911 played a significant role in defining racial identities in the country. One of the most noteworthy aspects of this census was the instructions given to enumerators on how to classify individuals into different racial categories. The category of "coloured persons" was used to refer to all people of mixed race, and this category included various ethnic groups such as Hottentots,
Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the Indigenous peoples of Africa, oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged fro ...
,
Cape Malays Cape Malays (, in 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, specifically Indonesia (a ...
,
Griquas The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...
, Korannas, Creoles,
Negroes In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from Latin ''niger ...
, and
Cape Coloureds 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, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between the ...
. Although the apartheid government recognised various coloured subgroups, including the Cape Malays and Cape Coloureds, the Coloured population, was for many purposes treated as a single group, despite their varying ancestries and cultures. Also during apartheid, many Griqua began to self-identify as ''Coloureds'' during the apartheid era, because of the benefits of such classification. For example, Coloureds did not have to carry a ''
dompas In South Africa under apartheid, and South West Africa (now Namibia), pass laws served as an internal passport system designed to racially segregate the population, restrict movement of individuals, and allocate low-wage migrant labor. Also ...
'' (a pass, an identity document designed to limit the movements of the black population), while the Griqua, who were seen as an indigenous African group, though heavily mixed, did.


Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean Coloureds are descended from
Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people ** Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today ** Shona languages, a wider group of languages defined in the early 20th century ** Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a Shona stat ...
or
Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe * Sumayela Ndebele (Northern Transvaal Ndebele), located in South Africa Languages *Southern Ndebele language, the language of ...
, British and
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 ...
settlers, as well as Arab and Asian people.


History


Pre-apartheid era

Coloured people played an important role in the struggle against apartheid and its predecessor policies. The African Political Organisation, established in 1902, had an exclusively Coloured membership; its leader Abdullah Abdurahman rallied Coloured political efforts for many years. Many Coloured people later joined the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
and the United Democratic Front. Whether in these organisations or others, many Coloured people were active in the fight against apartheid. The political rights of Coloured people varied by location and over time. In the 19th century they theoretically had similar rights to Whites in the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
(though income and property qualifications affected them disproportionately). In the
Transvaal Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second ...
or the
Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
, they had few rights. Coloured members were elected to Cape Town's municipal authority (including, for many years, Abdurahman). The establishment 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 ...
gave Coloured people the franchise, although by 1930 they were restricted to electing White representatives. They conducted frequent voting boycotts in protest. Such boycotts may have contributed to the victory of the
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
in 1948. It carried out an apartheid programme that stripped Coloured people of their remaining voting powers. The term " kaffir" is a racial slur used to refer to Black African people in South Africa. While it is still used against black people, it is not as prevalent as it is against coloured people.


Apartheid era

Coloured people were subject to forced relocation. For instance, the government relocated Coloured from the urban Cape Town areas of
District Six District Six (Afrikaans: ''Distrik Ses'') is a residential neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, located next to the city's Cape Town CBD, CBD. In 1959, people of color were banned from the area and most of them were resettled in Gugulet ...
, which was later bulldozed. Other areas they were forced to leave included Constantia,
Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...
,
Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...
. Inhabitants were moved to racially designated sections of the metropolitan area on the
Cape Flats The Cape Flats () is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geo ...
. Additionally, under apartheid, Coloured people received education inferior to that of Whites. It was, however, better than that provided to Black South Africans. J. G. Strijdom, known as "the Lion of the North", continued the impetus to restrict Coloured rights, in order to entrench the new-won
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
majority. Coloured participation on juries was removed in 1954, and efforts to abolish their participation on the common voters' roll in the
Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...
escalated drastically; it was accomplished in 1956 by a supermajority amendment to the 1951 Separate Representation of Voters Act, passed by Malan but held back by the judiciary as unconstitutional under the
South Africa Act The South Africa Act 1909 ( 9 Edw. 7. c. 9) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Union of South Africa out of the former Cape, Natal, Orange River, and Transvaal colonies. The act also allowed for potential admis ...
, the Union's effective constitution. In order to bypass this safeguard, enforced since 1909 to ensure Coloured political rights in the then-British Cape Colony, Strijdom's government passed legislation to expand the number of Senate seats from 48 to 89. All of the additional 41 members hailed from the National Party, increasing its representation in the Senate to 77 in total. The Appellate Division Quorum Bill increased the number of judges necessary for constitutional decisions in the Appeal Court from five to eleven. Strijdom, knowing that he had his two-thirds majority, held a joint sitting of parliament in May 1956. The entrenchment clause regarding the Coloured vote, known as the South Africa Act, were thus eliminated and the Separate Representation of Voters Act passed, now successfully. Coloureds were placed on a separate voters' roll from the 1958 election to the House of Assembly and forward. They could elect four Whites to represent them in the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...
. Two Whites would be elected to the
Cape Provincial Council The Cape Provincial Council was the provincial council (South Africa), provincial council of the Cape Province of South Africa. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, with effect from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910 ...
and the
governor general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
could appoint one
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
. Both blacks and Whites opposed this measure, particularly from the United Party and more liberal opposition. The
Torch Commando The Torch Commando was a South African anti-apartheid organisation, born out of the work of the Springbok Legion, a South African organisation of World War II veterans, founded in 1941 during the Second World War, and the War Veterans Action ...
was prominent, while the
Black Sash The Black Sash is a South African human rights organisation. It was founded in Johannesburg in 1955 as a non-violent resistance organisation for liberal white women. Origins The Black Sash was founded on 19 May 1955 by six middle-class white ...
(White women, uniformly dressed, standing on street corners with placards) also made themselves heard. In this way, the question of the Coloured vote became one of the first measures of the regime's unscrupulous nature and flagrant willingness to manipulate its inherited
Westminster system The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of ...
. It would remain in power until 1994. Many Coloureds refused to register for the new voters' roll and the number of Coloured voters dropped dramatically. In the next election, only 50.2% of them voted. They had no interest in voting for White representatives — an activity which many of them saw as pointless, and only persisted for ten years. Under the
Population Registration Act The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics as part of the system of apartheid. Social rights, political rights, educational ...
, as amended, Coloureds were formally classified into various subgroups, including
Cape Coloureds 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, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between the ...
,
Cape Malays Cape Malays (, in 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, specifically Indonesia (a ...
and "other coloured". A portion of the small
Chinese South African Chinese South Africans () are Overseas Chinese who reside in South Africa, including those whose ancestors came to South Africa in the early 20th century until Chinese immigration was banned under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904. Chinese indu ...
community was also classified as a coloured subgroup. In 1958, the government established the Department of Coloured Affairs, followed in 1959 by the Union for Coloured Affairs. The latter had 27 members and served as an advisory link between the government and the Coloured people. The 1964
Coloured Persons Representative Council The Coloured Persons Representative Council of the Republic of South Africa was a partially elected council with limited legislative powers, intended to represent coloured South Africans during the apartheid era. It was first elected in 1969, re-e ...
turned out to be a constitutional hitch which never really proceeded. In 1969, the Coloureds elected forty onto the council to supplement the twenty nominated by the government, taking the total number to sixty. Following the 1983 referendum, in which 66.3% of White voters supported the change, the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
was reformed to allow the Coloured and
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
minorities limited participation in separate and subordinate Houses in a
tricameral Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, which are both far more common. No national government is currently organized along tricameral lines. The ...
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. This was part of a change in which the Coloured minority was to be allowed limited rights and self-governance in "Coloured areas", but continuing the policy of denationalising the Black majority and making them involuntary citizens of independent homelands. The internal rationale was that South African whites, more numerous at the time than Coloureds and Indians combined, could bolster its popular support and divide the democratic opposition while maintaining a working majority. The effort largely failed, with the 1980s seeing increased disintegration of civil society and numerous states of emergency, with violence increasing from all racial groups. The separate arrangements were removed by the negotiations which took place from 1990 to hold the first universal election.


Post-apartheid era

During the 1994 all-race elections, Coloured people voted heavily for the white
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
, which in its first contest with a non-white majority won 20% of the vote and a majority in the new
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 ...
province – much due to Cape Coloured support. The National Party recast itself as the New National Party after De Klerk's departure in 1996, partly to attract non-White voters, and grew closer to the ANC. This political alliance, often perplexing to outsiders, has sometimes been explained in terms of the culture and language shared by White and Coloured New National Party members, who both spoke Afrikaans. In addition, both groups opposed affirmative action programmes that might give preference to Black South Africans, and some Coloured people feared giving up older privileges, such as access to municipal jobs, if
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
gained leadership in the government. After the absorption of the NNP into the ANC in 2005, Coloured voters have generally drawn to the Democratic Alliance, with some opting for minor parties such as Vryheidsfront and
Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...
's
Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...
, with lukewarm support for the ANC. Since the late 20th century, Coloured
identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...
have grown in influence. The Western Cape has been a site of the rise of opposition parties, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA). The Western Cape is considered as an area in which this party might gain ground against the dominant African National Congress. The Democratic Alliance drew in some former New National Party voters and won considerable Coloured support. The New National Party collapsed in the 2004 elections. Coloured support aided the Democratic Alliance's victory in the 2006 Cape Town municipal elections. Patricia de Lille, who became the mayor of Cape Town in 2011 on the platform of the now-defunct
Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...
, does not use the label Coloured but many observers would consider her as Coloured by visible appearance. The Independent Democrats party sought the Coloured vote and gained significant ground in the municipal and local elections in 2006, particularly in districts in the Western Cape with high proportions of Coloured residents. The firebrand
Peter Marais Petrus Jacobus "Peter" Marais (born 4 September 1948) is a retired South African politician who served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He previously served as the inaugural Mayor of Cape Town from 2000 until his dismi ...
(formerly a provincial leader of the New National Party) has sought to portray his New Labour Party as the political voice for Coloured people. Coloured people supported and were members of the African National Congress before, during and after the apartheid era: notable politicians include
Ebrahim Rasool Ebrahim Rasool (born 15 July 1962) is a South African politician and diplomat who served as the South African Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2015 and again in 2025, as a member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010, and as th ...
(previously Western Cape premier), Beatrice Marshoff, John Schuurman,
Allan Hendrickse Helenard Joe Hendrickse (22 October 1927 – 16 March 2005), popularly known as Allan Hendrickse, was a South African politician, Congregationalist minister and teacher. He was a founder of the 1969–1994 Labour Party of South Africa and a le ...
and
Trevor Manuel Trevor Andrew Manuel (born 31 January 1956) is a retired South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served in the cabinet of South Africa between 1994 and 2014. He was the South African Department of Finance, Minister of ...
, longtime Minister of Finance. The Democratic Alliance won control over the Western Cape during the 2009 National and Provincial Elections and subsequently brokered an alliance with the Independent Democrats. The ANC has had some success in winning Coloured votes, particularly among labour-affiliated and middle-class Coloured voters. Some Coloureds express distrust of the ANC with the comment, saying that the Coloured were considered "not white enough under apartheid and not black enough under the ANC." In the 2004 election, voter apathy was high in historically Coloured areas. The ANC faces the dilemma of having to balance the increasingly nationalistic economic aspirations of its core black African support base, with its ambition to regain control of the Western Cape, which would require support from Coloureds.


Coloureds in other southern African countries

The term
Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...
is also used in Namibia, to describe persons of
mixed race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
, specifically part Khoisan, and part European. The ''
Baster The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has ...
s'' of Namibia constitute a separate ethnic group that are sometimes considered a sub-group of the Coloured population of that country. Under South African rule, the policies and laws of apartheid were extended to what was then called
South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...
. In Namibia,
Coloureds Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...
were treated by the government in a way comparable to that of South African Coloureds. In Zimbabwe and to a lesser extent Zambia, the term Coloured or ''
Goffal Goffals or Coloured Zimbabweans are persons of mixed race, predominately those claiming both European and African descent, in Malawi, Zambia, and, particularly Zimbabwe. They are generally known as Coloureds, though the term ''Goffal'' is used by s ...
'' was used to refer to people of mixed race. Most are descended from mixed African and British, or African and Indian, progenitors. Some Coloured families descended from Cape Coloured migrants from South Africa who had children with local women. Under
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
's predominantly white government, Coloureds had more privileges than black Africans, including full voting rights, but still faced social discrimination. The term Coloured is also used in
Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
.


Culture


Lifestyle

As far as family life, housing, eating habits, clothing and so on are concerned, the Christian Coloureds generally maintain a Western lifestyle. Marriages are strictly monogamous, although extramarital and premarital sexual relationships can occur and are perceived differently from family to family. Among the working and agrarian classes, permanent relationships are often officially ratified only after a while if at all. The average family size of six does not differ from those of other Western families and, as with the latter, is generally related to socio-economic status. Extended families are common. Coloured children are often expected to refer to any extended relatives as their "auntie" or "uncle" as a formality. While many affluent families live in large, modern, and sometimes luxurious homes, many urban coloured people rely on state-owned economic and sub-economic housing.


Cultural aspects

There are many singing and choir associations as well as orchestras in the Coloured community. The Eoan Group Theatre Company performs opera and ballet in Cape Town. The
Kaapse Klopse The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse), officially named the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, is a traditionally Cape Coloured minstrel festival that takes place annually on 2 January in Cape Town, South Africa. The festival is also referred to as T ...
carnival, held annually on 2 January in Cape Town, and the Cape Malay choir and orchestral performances are an important part of the city's holiday season. Kaapse Klopse consists of several competing groups that have been singing and dancing through Cape Town's streets on New Year's Day earlier this year. Nowadays the drumlines in cheerful, brightly Coloured costumes perform in a stadium. Christmas festivities take place in a sacred atmosphere but are no less vivid, mainly including choirs and orchestras that sing and play Christmas songs in the streets. In the field of performing arts and literature, several Coloureds performed with the CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board) ballet and opera company, and the community yielded three major Afrikaans poets the well-known poets, Adam Small, S.V. Petersen, and P.J. Philander. In 1968, the Culture and Recreation Council was established to promote the cultural activities of the Coloured Community.


Education

Until 1841 missionary societies provided all the school facilities for Coloured children. All South African children are expected to attend school from the age of seven to sixteen years, at the minimum.


Economic activities

Initially, Coloureds were mainly semi-skilled and unskilled labourers who, as builders, masons, carpenters and painters, made an important contribution to the early construction industry in the Cape. Many were also fishermen and farm workers, and the latter had an important share in the development of the wine, fruit and grain farms in the Western Cape. The Malays were, and still are, skilled furniture makers, dressmakers and coopers. In recent years, more and more Coloureds have been working in the manufacturing and construction industry. There are still many Coloured fishermen, and most Coloureds in the countryside are farm workers and even farmers. The largest percentage of economically active Coloureds is found in the manufacturing industry. About 35% of the economically active Coloured women are employed in clothing, textile, food and other factories. Another important field of work is the service sector, while an ever-increasing number of Coloureds operate in administrative, clerical and sales positions. All the more professional and managerial posts are. In order to stimulate the economic development of Coloureds, the Coloured Development Corporation was established in 1962. The corporation provided capital to businessmen, offered training courses and undertook the establishment of shopping centres, factories and the like.


Distribution

A majority of those who identify as Coloured live in the Western Cape, where they make up almost half of the province's population. In the 2022 South African census the distribution of the group per province was as follows:


Language

The majority of Coloureds in South Africa speak
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 ...
as their home language, while a smaller minority of the Coloureds speak English as their home language. Most English-speaking Coloureds live in
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
(especially in its biggest city,
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
) mainly because of their partial British heritage that is mainly mixed with Zulu and because of the extreme
anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
of Natal. English-speaking Coloureds are also found in a few other areas in South Africa. Almost all Coloureds from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi speak English as their home language as well because their heritage and history is similar with the Coloureds of Natal as these countries were also British colonies. While the history behind the English-speaking Coloureds is straightforward, the history behind the Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds is more complicated because Afrikaans has a more detailed, complex, and controversial history. During the 17th and 18th century in the Dutch Cape colony, Dutch was obviously the official language that had to be spoken by everyone living there. Despite discrimination and slavery, the population of the Cape was extremely diverse with so many different ethnic groups and nationalities that spoke their own languages such as the Dutch settlers, French Huguenots, Germans, Khoi Khoi, Bantu, and Indonesians. With this diversity in the Cape, most people could not speak Dutch fluently, therefore, they spoke broken Dutch. Eventually, broken Dutch was blended with other languages ( Malay, Portuguese,
Khoekhoegowab Khoekhoe or Khoikhoi ( ; , ), also known by the ethnic terms Nama ( ; ''Namagowab''), Damara (''ǂNūkhoegowab''), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non- Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy ...
etc.) and new dialects were formed. As a way to break the language barrier between the different groups of people living in the Cape, Creolised Dutch evolved through different dialects throughout many years until a new language was eventually born: Afrikaans. It is because of this mixture that Afrikaans borrowed many words from different languages despite being the daughter language of Dutch. This is why Afrikaans is common in the Western region of South Africa and the reason why most Coloureds speak Afrikaans as their home language.https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf And it is why there are more Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds than the Afrikaans-speaking whites. This is also the reason why the type of Afrikaans that's spoken in Cape Town and the rest 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 ...
by the Cape Coloureds, Cape Malays and Blacks is a bit different than the Afrikaans that is spoken by the
Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch people, Dutch Settler colonialism, settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in Free Burghers in the Dutch Cape Colony, 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. '' ...
in other parts of SA as it is spoken in a dialect called
Kaaps Kaaps (, meaning 'of the Cape'), also known as Afrikaaps, is a West Germanic African language that evolved in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its status as a sister language of Afrikaans or a dialect of Afrikaans is unclear. Since th ...
with more influence from Malay, Portuguese,
Khoekhoe Khoikhoi ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peop ...
and other languages. Kaaps is viewed as the older dialect of Afrikaans because it was spoken by the slaves of the Cape from the 17th century. However, not every Afrikaans-speaking coloured has a Dutch/Afrikaner ancestor within their bloodline, nor do they have ancestry from the slaves in the Cape Colony. Some Coloureds (especially those whose forefathers were interracially mixed during the late 19th century and 20th century) have totally different ancestries (other European nationalities mixed with other African tribes) but because they moved to predominantly Afrikaans-speaking communities or they were born and bred in predominantly Afrikaans-speaking communities, they ended up speaking Afrikaans as their home language as well. Afrikaans-speaking coloureds are also found in Namibia, especially in the southern region of the country. Although it is rare, there are also Coloureds who can speak South African
Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
, such as Zulu, and
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
and the Khoi Khoi and San languages of southern Africa, such as
Khoekhoe Khoikhoi ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peop ...
and
Khoemana ǃOrakobab or ''Khoemana'', also known as Korana, ǃOra, or Griqua, is a moribund Khoe language of South Africa. Names "Khoemana" (from ''khoe'' 'person' + ''mana'' 'language') is more commonly known as either Korana (also ǃOrakobab, ǃOra, ...
. The Coloureds that can speak Khoisan languages mostly live in 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 ...
.


Cuisine

Numerous South African cuisines can be traced back to Coloured people.
Bobotie Bobotie (Afrikaans: ) is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. Origin of name and recipe Bobotie appears to be a variant of ''patinam ex lacte'', a dish documented by the ancient Roman writer ...
, snoek-based dishes,
koe'sister A koesister or koe'sister is a traditional Cape Malay pastry often described as a spicy dumpling with a cake-like texture, finished off with a sprinkling of coconut. The inaugural World Koesister Day was celebrated on Sunday, 1 September 2019 at ...
s, bredies, Malay
roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...
and gatsbies are staple diets of Coloureds and other South Africans as well.


People


Politicians

* Midi Achmat, South African writer and
LGBT rights activist A list of notable LGBTQ social movements, LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Albania * Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT org ...
*
Zackie Achmat Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat (born 21 March 1962) is a South African activist and film director. He is a co-founder the Treatment Action Campaign and known worldwide for his activism on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. ...
, South African HIV/AIDS activist and filmmaker *
Neville Alexander Neville Edward Alexander OLS (22 October 1936 – 27 August 2012) was a proponent of a multilingual South Africa and a former revolutionary who spent ten years on Robben Island as a fellow prisoner of Nelson Mandela. Early life Alexander was ...
, Political activist, educationalist and lecturer *
Allan Boesak Allan Aubrey Boesak (born 23 February 1946) is a South African Dutch Reformed Church cleric, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was sentenced to prison for fraud in 1999 but was subsequently granted an official pardon and reinstated as ...
, Political activist and cleric *
Lynne Brown Lynne Brown (born 26 September 1961) is a South African politician who is a former Minister of Public Enterprises and former Premier of the Western Cape Province. She was born in Cape Town and grew up in Mitchells Plain. She was appointed Premi ...
, Political activist and politician *
Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023. S ...
, former
PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...
, then
Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...
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 Zainunnisa "Cissie" Gool (6 November 1897 – 1 July 1963) was an anti-apartheid political and civil rights leader in South Africa. She was the daughter of prominent physician and politician Abdullah Abdurahman and mother Helen Potter James. G ...
, South African political activist and representative on the
Cape Town City Council The City of Cape Town (; ) is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of 4,772,846. History Cape Town first received local self-government in 1839, wit ...
*
Ashley Kriel Ashley Kriel (17 October 1966 – 9 July 1987) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who was killed by police in Cape Town on 9 July 1987 for his role in the anti-apartheid movement. In 1999, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission gran ...
Anti-Apartheid activist *
Alex La Guma Alex La Guma (20 February 1924 – 11 October 1985) was a South African novelist, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO) and a defendant in the Treason Trial, whose works helped characterise the movement against ...
, South African novelist and leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation *
Trevor Manuel Trevor Andrew Manuel (born 31 January 1956) is a retired South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served in the cabinet of South Africa between 1994 and 2014. He was the South African Department of Finance, Minister of ...
, former Finance Minister, currently Head of the
National Planning Commission of South Africa The National Planning Commission of South Africa is a South African government agency established in May 2010, responsible for strategic planning for the country. The head of the commission reports to the President, and works with various mini ...
*
Peter Marais Petrus Jacobus "Peter" Marais (born 4 September 1948) is a retired South African politician who served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He previously served as the inaugural Mayor of Cape Town from 2000 until his dismi ...
, former Unicity Mayor of Cape Town and Former Premier of the Western Cape *
Gerald Morkel Gerald Norman Morkel (2 February 1941 – 9 January 2018) was the Mayor of Cape Town and Premier of the Western Cape province in South Africa. He later served as a member of the Cape Town City Council for the Democratic Alliance until his retir ...
, 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 Daniel Plato (born 5 October 1960), known as Dan Plato, is a South African politician and a former Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He served from June 2011 until October 2018 and again from January 2022 until February 2024. H ...
, Western Cape Community Safety Minister *
Dulcie September Dulcie Evonne September (20 August 1935 – 29 March 1988) was a South African anti-apartheid political activist who was assassinated in Paris, France, in 1988. Early life The second eldest daughter of Jakobus and Susan September, September gre ...
, political activist * Adam Small, political activist, poet and writer *
Percy Sonn Percival 'Percy' Henry Frederick Sonn (25 September 1949 - 27 May 2007) was a South African lawyer and cricket administrator. Sonn became the sixth president of the International Cricket Council, the most senior role at cricket's world governi ...
, 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 Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot Constantia, Groot and Klein C ...
, last commander and first Governor of the
Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...


Artists and writers

*
Peter Abrahams Peter Henry Abrahams Deras (3 March 1919 – 18 January 2017), commonly known as Peter Abrahams, was a South African-born novelist, journalist and political commentator who in 1956 settled in Jamaica, where he lived for the rest of his life. Hi ...
, writer *
Tyrone Appollis Tyrone Appollis is a South African artist and poet. Education He studied art at the Community Arts Project under Cecil Skotnes between 1982 and 1987. He was active in the formation of the Mitchells Plain Art Group in 1988. He has held numero ...
, academic *
Willie Bester Willie Bester (born February 29, 1956) is a South African painter, sculptor and collage artist. He is best known for his role in the protesting of the apartheid system through his artwork. He currently lives in Kuilsrivier, South Africa with his ...
*
Dennis Brutus Dennis Vincent Brutus (28 November 1924 – 26 December 2009) was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have South Africa banned from the Olympic Games due to its racial policy of apartheid. ...
, journalist, poet, activist * Peter Clarke *
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (born 17 February 1966)Phillippa Yaa de Vill ...
, writer and performance artist * Garth Erasmus, artist * Diana Ferrus, poet, writer and performance artist *
Bessie Head Bessie Amelia Emery Head (6 July 1937 – 17 April 1986) was a South African writer who, though born in South Africa, is usually considered Botswana's most influential writer. She wrote novels, short fiction and autobiographical works that are ...
, writer *
Oliver Hermanus Oliver Hermanus (; born 26 May 1983) is a South African film director and writer.
"Oliver Hermanus." IMDb: The Internet Movie D ...
, writer, director * Rozena Maart, writer * Mustafa Maluka * Dr.
Don Mattera Donato Francisco Mattera (29 December 1935 – 18 July 2022), better known as Don Mattera, was a South African poet and author. Overview Born in 1935 in Western Native Township (now Westbury), Johannesburg, Union of South Africa, Mattera g ...
* James Matthews, writer * Selwyn Milborrow, poet, writer, journalist *
Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh (born 4 January 1989) is a South African University lecturer, Podcaster, author, musician and activist. Mpofu-Walsh was president of the University of Cape Town Students' Representative Council in 2010. He holds a DPhil in Inte ...
* Arthur Nortje, poet *
Robin Rhode Robin Rhode (born 1976) is a South African artist based in Berlin, Germany. He has made wall drawings, photographs and sculptures. Early life and education Rhode was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied fine art at Technikon Witwaters ...
* Richard Moore Rive, writer * Tracey Rose * Adam Small, writer *
Zoë Wicomb Zoë Wicomb (born 23 November 1948) is a South African author and academic who has lived in the UK since the 1970s. In 2013, she was awarded the inaugural Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for her fiction. Early life Zoë Wicomb was born ne ...
, writer *
Athol Williams Athol Williams (born 20 June 1970) is a South African poet, applied philosopher and business lecturer based at Oxford University. Life Williams was born in Lansdowne, Cape Town, South Africa, and grew up in Mitchells Plain, the coloured tow ...
, poet, writer, scholar,
social philosopher Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...


Actors and actresses

* Quanita Adams, actress * Natalie Becker, actress *
Lesley-Ann Brandt Lesley-Ann Brandt (born 2 December 1981) is a South African-born American actress best known for the role of Mazikeen on the television series ''Lucifer'' (2016–2021). Early life Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Brandt is Cape Coloured of Afr ...
, actress *
Meryl Cassie Meryl Danielle Cassie (born 2 April 1984) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She has three children, a son, Rylon born in 2006 and two daughters Breeze (Born 18 October 2013) and Diaz (born 2015). She is most famous for her role as Ebony in t ...
, actress *
Vincent Ebrahim Vincent Ebrahim (born 1949) is a South African actor and comedian. He is known for portraying the roles of Ashwin in the BBC later Sky One comedy series '' The Kumars at No. 42'' (2001–2006, 2014), pub landlord Bobby in the BBC One comedy seri ...
, actor * Vinette Ebrahim, actress *
Kim Engelbrecht Kim Suzanne Engelbrecht (born 20 June 1980) is a South African actress best known for her roles as Lolly in ''Isidingo'', Sgt. Noma Banks on ''Dominion'' (2014–2015), Marlize DeVoe on ''The Flash'' (2017–18), and the titular character in '' ...
, actress * Jarrid Geduld, actor *
Shannon Kook Shannon Xiao Lóng Kook-Chun (born 9 February 1987) is a South African actor based in Canada. He is known for his roles as Zane Park on the television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (2010–11), Jordan Green on '' The 100'' (2018 ...
, actor *
Kandyse McClure Candice McClure (born 22 March 1980), known professionally as Kandyse McClure, is a Canadian actress. She gained prominence through her roles in the Fox Family Channel, Fox Family series ''Higher Ground (TV series), Higher Ground'' (2000), the N ...
, actress *
Shamilla Miller Shamilla Ismael Miller (born 14 September 1988) is a South African actress, television presenter, and model. She is best known for her roles in ''Amaza'', ''Forced Love'', ''Tali's Baby Diary'', '' Troy: Fall of a City'', and '' The Girl from St ...
, actress * Blossom Tainton-Lindquist


Beauty queens

* Tansey Coetzee, Miss South Africa 2007 * Tamaryn Green, Miss South Africa 2018 * 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 (rapper), AKA, hip-hop recording artist * Fallon Bowman, South African-born guitarist, singer, and actor * Jonathan Butler, jazz 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 (composer), Trevor Jones, South African-born film composer * Taliep Petersen, musician and director * YoungstaCPT, rapper * Tyla Seethal, South African-born singer and songwriter


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 (cricketer), Paul Adams * Vincent Barnes * Loots Bosman * Henry Davids * Basil D'Oliveira * Damian D'Oliveira * JP Duminy * Herschelle Gibbs * Beuran Hendricks * Reeza Hendricks * Omar Henry (cricketer), 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 (soccer), David Booysen * Mario Booysen * Ethan Brooks (soccer), 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 (soccer, born 1987), Stanton Lewis * Benni McCarthy, South Africa national soccer team, South Africa national team's all-time top scorer with 31 goals * Fabian McCarthy (South African soccer), Fabian McCarthy * Leroy Maluka * Grant Margeman * Bryce Moon * Nasief Morris * Tashreeq Morris * James Musa * Andile Ncobo, referee * Morne Nel * András Németh (footballer), Andras Nemeth * Reagan Noble * Brad Norman * Riyaad Norodien * Bernard Parker * Genino Palace * Peter Petersen (soccer), Peter Petersen * Brandon Peterson (soccer), Brandon Peterson * Steven Pienaar * Reyaad Pieterse * Wayne Roberts (soccer), Wayne Roberts * Frank Schoeman * Ebrahim Seedat * Brandon Silent * Elrio van Heerden * Dino Visser * Shu-Aib Walters * Mark Williams (South African soccer), 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 (rugby union), Kurt Coleman, Western Province and Stormers player * Bolla Conradie * Juan de Jongh * Peter de Villiers * Justin Geduld, Springbok 7's * Bryan Habana * Cornal Hendricks * Adrian Jacobs * Conrad Jantjes * Elton Jantjies * Herschel Jantjies * Ricky Januarie * Ashley Johnson (rugby union), Ashley Johnson * Cheslin Kolbe, Western Province and Stormers player * Dillyn Leyds, Western Province and Stormers player * Lionel Mapoe * Breyton Paulse * Earl Rose (rugby union player), 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

*Anglo-Indian *Anglo-Burmese people, Anglo-Burmese *Arab-Berber *Burgher people, Burghers *Colored *Culture of South Africa *Free people of color *Half-caste *Indo people *Khoisan revivalism *Sandra Laing *Melungeon *Mestizo (Mestiço) *Métis *
Miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
*Mulatto *
One-drop rule The one-drop rule was a legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th-century United States. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of African ancestry ("one drop" of "black blood")Davis, F. James. Front ...
*Pardo *Passing (racial identity) *Pencil test (South Africa), Pencil test *Person of color *Dutch East India Company, VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie)


Notes


References


Bibliography

* ''Gekonsolideerde Algemene Bibliografie: Die Kleurlinge Van Suid-Afrika'', South Africa Department of Coloured Affairs, Inligtingsafdeling, 1960, 79 p. * Mohamed Adhikari, ''Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community'', Ohio University Press, 2005, 252 p. * Vernie A. February, ''Mind Your Colour: The "coloured" Stereotype in South African Literature'', Routledge, 1981, 248 p. * R. E. Van der Ross, ''100 Questions about Coloured South Africans'', 1993, 36 p. * Philippe Gervais-Lambony, ''La nouvelle Afrique du Sud, problèmes politiques et sociaux'', la Documentation française, 1998 * François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, ''Histoire de l'Afrique du Sud'', 2006, Seuil


Novels

* Pamela Jooste, ''Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter'', Doubleday, 1998, *
Zoë Wicomb Zoë Wicomb (born 23 November 1948) is a South African author and academic who has lived in the UK since the 1970s. In 2013, she was awarded the inaugural Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for her fiction. Early life Zoë Wicomb was born ne ...
, ''David's Story'', New York, Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2001 * Henry Martin Scholtz, ''A Place Called Vatmaar'', 2000,


External links

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Namibia Coloured African people, Multiracial affairs in Africa European diaspora in Africa Creole peoples Person of color History of the Dutch East India Company Articles containing video clips