# Coloureds
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coloureds
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coloureds.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds
> Source revision: 1356009162
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Multiracial people of southern Africa}}
{{Redirect|Coloured|usage of the term outside southern Africa|Colored|other uses|Color (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Coloureds
| image = 250px
An extended Coloured family with roots in Cape Town, [Kimberley](/source/Kimberley%2C_Northern_Cape) and [Pretoria](/source/Pretoria)
| population = '''5,600,000'''
| popplace =
| region1 = South Africa
| pop1 = 5,052,349 (2022 census)
| ref1 = [{{cite web|url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf|title=Census 2022 Statistical Release|publisher=Statistics South Africa|access-date=2024-11-01}}]
| region2 = Namibia
| pop2 = 107,855 (2023 census)
| ref2 = [{{cite web|url=https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf|title=Namibia 2023 Population and Housing Census Main Report|publisher=Namibia Statistics Agency|access-date=2024-10-30}}]{{efn|Includes 45,629 [Basters](/source/Basters).}}
| region3 = Zimbabwe
| pop3 = 14,130 (2022 census)
| ref3 = [{{cite web |title=Zimbabwe 2022 Population and Housing Census Report, vol. 1 |website=ZimStat |publisher=Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency |url=https://www.zimstat.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/Demography/Census/2022_PHC_Report_27012023_Final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001155012/https://www.zimstat.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/Demography/Census/2022_PHC_Report_27012023_Final.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2024 |page=122 }}]
| region4 = Zambia
| pop4 = 3,000 (2012 census)
| ref4 = [{{cite book|last = Milner-Thornton|first = Juliette Bridgette|title = The Long Shadow of the British Empire: The Ongoing Legacies of Race and Class in Zambia|date = 2012|pages = 9–15|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|isbn = 978-1-349-34284-6|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncc6sOUexo8C&pg=PA9}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}]
| langs = [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans) (primarily)
[English](/source/South_African_English) (primarily)
[Xhosa](/source/Xhosa_language), [Tswana](/source/Tswana_language), [Zulu](/source/Zulu_language) (minority)[{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=Mary |date=2019-06-09 |title=What languages do black, coloured, Indian and white South Africans speak? |url=https://southafrica-info.com/infographics/languages-black-coloured-indian-white-south-africans-speak/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=South Africa Gateway |language=en-GB}}]
| rels = Predominantly [Christianity](/source/Christianity_in_Africa), minority [Islam](/source/Islam_in_Africa) and [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism_in_Africa)
| related = [Africans](/source/List_of_ethnic_groups_of_Africa), [Mulatto](/source/Mulatto), [White South Africans](/source/White_South_Africans), [Afrikaners](/source/Afrikaners), [Boers](/source/Boers), [Cape Dutch](/source/Cape_Dutch), [Cape Coloureds](/source/Cape_Coloureds), [Cape Malay](/source/Cape_Malay)s, [Griquas](/source/Griquas), [San people](/source/San_people), [Khoikhoi](/source/Khoikhoi), [Zulu](/source/Zulu_people), [Xhosa](/source/Xhosa_people), [Saint Helenians](/source/Demographics_of_Saint_Helena%2C_Ascension_and_Tristan_da_Cunha), [Rehoboth Basters](/source/Rehoboth_Basters), [Tswana](/source/Tswana_people)
}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
thumb|250px|Coloured people as a proportion of the total population in South Africa:
{{clear}}
{{legend-col
|{{legend|#EDF8E9|0–20%}}
|{{legend|#BAE4B3|20–40%}}
|{{legend|#74C476|40–60%}}
|{{legend|#31A354|60–80%}}
|{{legend|#006D2C|80–100%}}
}}
thumb|250px|Density of the Coloured population in South Africa:
{{clear}}
{{legend-col
|{{legend|#ffffcc|<1 /km2}}
|{{legend|#ffeda0|1–3 /km2}}
|{{legend|#fed976|3–10 /km2}}
|{{legend|#feb24c|10–30 /km2}}
|{{legend|#fd8d3c|30–100 /km2}}
|{{legend|#fc4e2a|100–300 /km2}}
|{{legend|#e31a1c|300–1000 /km2}}
|{{legend|#bc0026|1000–3000 /km2}}
|{{legend|#800026|>3000 /km2}}
}}
'''Coloureds''' ({{langx|af|Kleurlinge}}) are [multiracial people](/source/multiracial_people) in [South Africa](/source/South_Africa), [Namibia](/source/Namibia) and to a smaller extent [Zimbabwe](/source/Zimbabwe) and [Zambia](/source/Zambia). Their ancestry descends from the [interracial mixing](/source/Miscegenation) that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South Africa began in the 17th century in the [Dutch Cape Colony](/source/Dutch_Cape_Colony) where the Dutch settlers mixed with [Khoi Khoi](/source/Khoekhoe) women and female slaves from different parts of Africa and Asia, creating mixed-race children.[{{Cite web |title=The Coloured Communities of Southern Africa, a story |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/the-coloured-communities-of-southern-africa-a-story/ |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=African American Registry |language=en}}] Eventually, interracial mixing occurred throughout South Africa and the rest of [Southern Africa](/source/Southern_Africa) with various other European nationals (such as the Portuguese, British, Germans, Irish, French etc.) who mixed with other African tribes leading to more mixed-race people whose descendants would later be officially classified as 'Coloured' under the [Population Registration Act, 1950](/source/Population_Registration_Act%2C_1950) during Apartheid.[{{cite web | url=https://aaregistry.org/story/the-coloured-communities-of-southern-africa-a-story/#:~:text=In%20KwaZulu-Natal%2C%20the%20Coloured%20possess%20a%20diverse%20heritage%2C,British%20and%20Afrikaner%20colonizers%2C%20and%20Arabs%20and%20Asians | title=The Coloured Communities of Southern Africa, a story | work=African American Registry }}][{{cite web|title=coloured|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/coloured?q=coloured|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309100643/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/coloured?q=coloured|archive-date=March 9, 2014|work=Oxford Dictionaries|publisher=Oxford University|access-date=14 April 2014}}][{{cite journal|url=http://www.transformation.und.ac.za/issue%2047/47%20posel1.pdf|title= What's in a name? Racial categorisations under apartheid and their afterlife|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108101109/http://www.transformation.und.ac.za/issue%2047/47%20posel1.pdf|archive-date=2006-11-08|journal=Transformation|issn=0258-7696|year=2001|last=Posel|first= Deborah|pages= 50–74}}]
The majority of Coloureds are found in the Western Cape, but are prevalent throughout the country. According to the [2022 South African census](/source/2022_South_African_census), Coloureds represent 8.15% of people within South Africa, while they make up 42.1% of the population in the [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape) and 41.6% in the [Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape), representing a plurality of the population in these two [provinces of South Africa](/source/provinces_of_South_Africa).[{{Cite journal |last=de Wit |first=Erika |last2=Delport |first2=Wayne |last3=Rugamika |first3=Chimusa E. |last4=Meintjes |first4=Ayton |last5=Möller |first5=Marlo |last6=van Helden |first6=Paul D. |last7=Seoighe |first7=Cathal |last8=Hoal |first8=Eileen G. |date=2010-08-01 |title=Genome-wide analysis of the structure of the South African Coloured Population in the Western Cape |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-010-0836-1 |journal=Human Genetics |language=en |volume=128 |issue=2 |pages=145–153 |doi=10.1007/s00439-010-0836-1 |issn=1432-1203|url-access=subscription }}]
==Ancestral background==
===South Africa===
South Africa is known as a '[Rainbow nation](/source/Rainbow_nation)' because of its diverse cultures, tribes, races, religions and nationalities.[{{cite web | url=https://henristeenkamp.org/whats-in-a-name-the-story-behind-the-rainbow-nation/ | title=What's in a Name? The Story Behind the Rainbow Nation {{pipe}} Henri Steenkamp | date=26 January 2017 }}] Coloured people as they are known today are result of a diverse range of ancestries, regions, languages, and ethnic groups.[{{cite journal |url=https://onomajournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Onoma-55-1.12-Neethling-final-web-August.pdf |journal=Onoma |volume=55 |last=Neethling |first=Bertie |year=2020 |title=The so-called Coloured people of South Africa: Modern anthroponymic reconstruction? |pages=229–246 |doi=10.34158/ONOMA.55/2020/13}}]
====Dutch Cape Colony/Cape Colony/Cape Province====
{{Main|Cape Coloured}}
The first and the largest phase of [interracial marriages](/source/interracial_marriages)/[miscegenation](/source/miscegenation) in South Africa happened in the [Dutch Cape Colony](/source/Dutch_Cape_Colony) and the rest of the [Cape Colony](/source/Cape_Colony) which began from the 17th century, shortly after the arrival of Dutch settlers, who were led by [Jan van Riebeeck](/source/Jan_van_Riebeeck), through the [Dutch East India Company](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) (also known as the 'VOC').[{{cite web | title=Cape Melting Pot the Role and Status of the Mixed Population at the Cape 1652-1795 | url=https://docslib.org/doc/7111625/cape-melting-pot-the-role-and-status-of-the-mixed-population-at-the-cape-1652-1795 }}] When the Dutch settled in the Cape in 1652, they met the [Khoi Khoi](/source/Khoi_Khoi) who were the natives of the area.[{{cite web | url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/who-are-the-cape-coloureds-of-south-africa | title=Who are the Cape Coloureds of South Africa? }}] After settling in the Cape, the Dutch established farms that required intensive labour, therefore, they enforced [slavery in the Cape](/source/Slavery_in_South_Africa). Some of the [Khoi Khoi](/source/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](/source/Khoikhoi-Dutch_Wars).[{{cite web | url=https://www.africarebirth.com/how-indigenous-south-africans-resisted-the-first-european-intruders/ | title=How Indigenous South Africans Resisted the First European Intruders | date=24 October 2023 }}]
As a result, the Dutch imported slaves from other parts of the world, especially the [Malay people](/source/Malay_people) from present-day Indonesia and the [Bantu people](/source/Bantu_peoples) from various parts of [Southern Africa](/source/Southern_Africa).[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade | title=The Early Cape Slave Trade {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Slaves were also imported from Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh (also known as 'Bengal'), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Madagascar, Mauritius and the rest of Africa.[{{cite journal | last1=Groenewald | first1=Gerald | title=Slaves and Free Blacks in VOC Cape Town, 1652–1795 | journal=History Compass | date=2010 | volume=8 | issue=9 | pages=964–983 | doi=10.1111/J.1478-0542.2010.00724.X | url=https://www.academia.edu/8018427 }}][{{cite web | last1=Skies | first1=Infinite | title=CAMISSA HERITAGE - Origin and History of South African Cape Coloured People | date=10 March 2019 | url=https://www.academia.edu/38523613 }}] Because of this, the Cape had the most diverse slave population in the world.[{{cite journal | last1=Groenewald | first1=Gerald | title=Slaves and Free Blacks in VOC Cape Town, 1652–1795 | journal=History Compass | date=2010 | volume=8 | issue=9 | pages=964–983 | doi=10.1111/J.1478-0542.2010.00724.X | url=https://www.academia.edu/8018427 }}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/first-slaves-cape | title=The First Slaves at the Cape {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Usually, slaves were given their masters' surnames, surnames that referred to the characters in the bible (e.g. Adams, Jephta, Thomas, Esau, Solomons, Jacobs, Matthews, Peters, Daniels), surnames that reflected the month when they arrived in the Cape (e.g. September, March/Maart, January/Januarie, April), surnames that referred to Greek and Roman mythology (e.g. Cupido, Adonis, Titus, Hannibal) or surnames that referred to the geographical location where they came from (e.g. 'Afrika' from different parts of mainland Africa, 'Balie' from [Bali](/source/Bali) in Indonesia and 'Malgas' which referred to the [Malagasy people](/source/Malagasy_people) from Madagascar).[{{cite journal | last1=Groenewald | first1=Gerald | title=Slaves and Free Blacks in VOC Cape Town, 1652–1795 | journal=History Compass | date=2010 | volume=8 | issue=9 | pages=964–983 | doi=10.1111/J.1478-0542.2010.00724.X | url=https://www.academia.edu/8018427 }}][{{cite web | title=The slave experience – Slavery in South Africa | url=https://slavery.iziko.org.za/slaveexperience/#:~:text=Examples%20of%20such%20names%20are%3A%20Fortuijn%20%28English%20%3D,surnames%20such%20as%20January%2C%20February%2C%20September%20o }}][{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bPuGewLPUE | title=I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured - South Africa (2009) | website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) | date=6 April 2024 }}] These slaves were, however, dispersed and lost their cultural identity over the course of time.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-slavery-and-early-colonisation-south-africa | title=History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa {{pipe}} South African History Online }}]
Even in the early years of colonialism, the area that became known as '[Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town)', received international interest because it was the perfect halfway point for the trade route between Europe and Asia, which made Cape Town a vital trading station.[{{cite web | title=The Arrival of the Dutch: VOC, Cape Colony, and Early Settlers | work=History Rise | date=27 February 2025 | url=https://historyrise.com/the-arrival-of-the-dutch-voc-cape-colony-and-the-early-settler-era/ }}] This is the main reason why the Cape was colonised by the Dutch so that the VOC could control and benefit from the Cape-Sea Route. This is also the main reason why the Dutch Cape Colony (especially in Cape Town) became a melting pot of people who came from different parts of the world and this melting pot still exists.[{{cite web | title=Cape Melting Pot the Role and Status of the Mixed Population at the Cape 1652-1795 | url=https://docslib.org/doc/7111625/cape-melting-pot-the-role-and-status-of-the-mixed-population-at-the-cape-1652-1795 }}] The majority of the early Europeans who settled in the Cape were men because they were mostly traders, sailors, soldiers, explorers, farmers and politicians who hardly brought their families with them; therefore, they created new families in the Cape.[{{cite web | title=Cape Melting Pot the Role and Status of the Mixed Population at the Cape 1652-1795 | url=https://docslib.org/doc/7111625/cape-melting-pot-the-role-and-status-of-the-mixed-population-at-the-cape-1652-1795 }}]
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 the local Khoi Khoi women.[{{cite web | title=Cape Melting Pot the Role and Status of the Mixed Population at the Cape 1652-1795 | url=https://docslib.org/doc/7111625/cape-melting-pot-the-role-and-status-of-the-mixed-population-at-the-cape-1652-1795 }}] Soon after the arrival of slaves, the Dutch men also married and fathered mixed-race children with the [Malay](/source/Malay_Indonesians) from Indonesia, the Southern African Bantu, Indians and other enslaved ethnic groups in the Cape.[{{Cite web|url=https://study.com/academy/lesson/cape-coloureds-origins-culture.html?msockid=31e14f9a4e30671f2e725b284f306666|title=Cape Coloureds - Origins, Culture & Families|first1=Amy C.|last1=Evans|website=study.com|url-access=registration}}] 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](/source/Demographics_of_Africa) and [Asian](/source/Asian_people)).[{{cite web | title=History of Camissa People | date=21 June 2019 | url=https://camissapeople.wordpress.com/history-of-camissa-people/ }}] Some of these slaves also intermixed with the local Khoi Khoi workers and another breed of children were born with diverse heritage.[{{cite web | url=https://aaregistry.org/story/the-coloured-communities-of-southern-africa-a-story/ | title=The Coloured Communities of Southern Africa, a story }}]
[[File:Krotoa.webp|thumb|[Krotoa](/source/Krotoa), a Khoi Khoi woman who was the first indigenous person in South Africa to have an official interracial marriage]]
The first interracial marriage in the Cape was between [Krotoa](/source/Krotoa) (a Khoi Khoi woman who was a servant, a translator and a crucial negotiator between the Dutch and the Khoi Khoi. Her Dutch name was "Eva Van Meerhof") and [Peter Havgard](/source/Peter_Havgard) (a Danish surgeon whom the Dutch renamed as "Pieter Van Meerhof").[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/krotoa-eva | title=Krotoa (Eva) {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Having conceived 3 mixed-race children, Krotoa was also known as the mother that gave birth to the Coloured community in South Africa.[{{cite web | url=https://humanities.uct.ac.za/apc/love-time-imperialism-krotoa-eva-van-meerhof | title=Love in the time of imperialism: Krotoa 'Eva' van Meerhof {{pipe}} University of Cape Town }}]
Eventually, more Dutch people settled in the Cape until the Cape fell under British rule in the early 19th century.[{{cite web | url=https://sahistory.org.za/article/dutch-settlement | title=The Dutch Settlement {{pipe}} South African History Online }}][{{Cite web| title=History of candlewoods country estate | url=https://www.candlewoodsvenue.co.za/images/CandlewoodsHistory.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126093339/https://www.candlewoodsvenue.co.za/images/CandlewoodsHistory.pdf | archive-date=2025-01-26}}][{{cite web | url=https://familyvanwyk.blogspot.com/2007/04/history-of-van-wyk-family-name.html | title=Van Wyk Family: History of the van Wyk Family Name | date=24 April 2007 }}] The arrival of more Dutch people in the Cape led to the recruitment of more Khoi Khoi labourers and the importation of more slaves from different parts of Asia and Africa.[{{cite web | last1=Worden | first1=Nigel | last2=Malan | first2=Antonia | title=17 Constructing and Contesting Histories of Slavery at the Cape, South Africa | date=19 January 2017 | url=https://www.academia.edu/30997994 }}] From the mid-17th century until the 19th century and the 20th century, all the Dutch surnames in the Cape region and the rest of South Africa evolved into Afrikaans surnames which are the most common surnames amongst White South Africans and Coloured South Africans e.g. Van Niekerk, Strydom (from 'Strijdom'), De Waal, Pietersen, Van Rooyen, Van Tonder, Hanekom, Steenhuisen, De Jongh (from De Jong), Van Wyk, Van Der Walt, Van Der Merwe, Koekemoer, Meintjies, Beukes, Van Der Bijl, Uys, Oosthuizen, Theunissen, Pieterse, Willemse, Nieuwoudt.
The [Huguenots](/source/Huguenots) (also known as 'French Huguenots') were French Protestants who escaped banishment and persecution of Protestants in France. Many of them emigrated to the Dutch Cape Colony to seek refuge among the existing Dutch community during the late 1600s and early 1700s.[{{cite web | url=https://huguenotsociety.org.za/history-of-the-huguenots/ | title=The Huguenot History }}][{{Cite web| title=History of the Huguenot Society of South Africa | url=https://huguenotsociety.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HUGUENOT_SOCIETY-SA_History.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626103915/https://huguenotsociety.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HUGUENOT_SOCIETY-SA_History.pdf | archive-date=2022-06-26}}] Despite being refugees, they played a huge role on the history of the current [Afrikaans-speaking community](/source/Afrikaans), 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](/source/Huguenots_in_South_Africa) pioneered the vineyards of the Cape Winelands, turning it into one of the biggest wine producers in the world.[{{cite web | url=https://southafrica.co.za/french-huguenots.html | title=The French Huguenots - Franschhoek, South Africa }}][{{cite web | url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/biggest-wine-producers-by-country/ | title=Ranked: World's Biggest Wine Producers by Country | date=18 August 2023 }}] The town of [Franschhoek](/source/Franschhoek) (which means "French corner" in Dutch and Afrikaans) in the current [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape), was named as a refuge where many Huguenots were allocated by the VOC. Many Huguenots were also allocated to [Stellenbosch](/source/Stellenbosch), [Paarl](/source/Paarl) and the rest of the [Cape Winelands](/source/Cape_Winelands) because this was the perfect environment (in terms of climate and fertile land) for them to plant their vineyards and produce wine.[{{cite web | last1=De Bruin | first1=Karen | title=From Viticulture to Commemoration: French Huguenot Memory in the Cape Colony (1688-1824) | work=Journal of the Western Society for French History | date=2021 | volume=47 | url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wsfh/0642292.0047.007/--from-viticulture-to-commemoration-french-huguenot-memory?rgn=main;view=fulltext }}]
Although many Huguenots, who arrived in the Cape, were already married, their children and descendants were soon absorbed into Cape society and after few generations, they spoke [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language), not [French](/source/French_language).[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-large-group-french-huguenots-arrive-cape | title=The first large group of French Huguenots arrive at the Cape {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Just like many White-Afrikaans speakers, many Coloured-Afrikaans speakers (especially those from the current [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape), [Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape) and the [Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape)) also have some ancestry from France due to the Huguenots who integrated with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape region.[{{Cite journal |last=Romero |first=Patricia |date=2004-01-01 |title=Encounter at the Cape: French Huguenots, the Khoi and Other People of Color |url=https://www.academia.edu/109760433 |journal=Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History |doi=10.1353/CCH.2004.0038}}] White-Afrikaans speakers and Coloured-Afrikaans speakers who specifically originate from the sub-region of the [Cape Winelands](/source/Cape_Winelands) (especially from the Franschhoek area, the Stellenbosch area and the Paarl area) may have more French ancestry because this is where most Huguenots in the Cape Colony where allocated for the purpose of wine-making.[{{Cite web | title=HOME - The Huguenot Society of South Africa | url=https://huguenotsociety.org.za/ | access-date=2026-05-14 | website=huguenotsociety.org.za}}] Through the impact of the Huguenots in the Cape, French names became 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.[{{Cite web |title=Top 1,000 French Names (Male and Female) |url=https://listophile.com/names/nationality/french/ |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=Listophile |language=en-US}}][{{cite web | url=https://www.oocities.org/hugenoteblad/surname.htm?202523 | title=Huguenot surnames which exist in South Africa }}]
During the 1600s and the 1700s, Germany was the Netherlands' biggest trading partner in Europe and due to good relations, more than 100 000 Germans were recruited by the [VOC](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) making Germans the largest foreign Europeans in the Dutch empire.[{{Cite web |author=Olga Witmer |date=2020-09-15 |title=Germans, the Dutch East India Company, and Early Colonial South Africa |website=German Historical Institute London Blog |url=https://ghil.hypotheses.org/23 |doi=10.58079/P1PG |doi-access=free}}] Throughout Dutch rule, the VOC sent nearly 15 000 Germans to the Dutch Cape Colony to work as officials, sailors, administrators and soldiers.[{{Cite web| title=Personalia of the Germans at the Cape, 1652-1806 | url=https://www.cdbooks-r-us.com/supportdocs/personaliapreface.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705162203/http://www.cdbooks-r-us.com:80/supportdocs/personaliapreface.pdf | archive-date=2016-07-05}}] Eventually, Germans in the Cape became farmers, teachers, traders and ministers.[{{cite web | url=https://safrika.org/Personalia_en.html | title=German Immigrants to the Cape Colony under the Dutch 1652-1806 }}][{{cite web | url=https://afrikanerway.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/german-influence-on-boer-afrikaner-people/#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20most%20common%20Afrikaner%20surnames%20are,Muller%20%28M%C3%BCller%29%2C%20Meyer%2C%20Potgieter%2C%20Schoeman%20%28Schuman%29%20or%20Liebenberg | title=German influence on Boer-Afrikaner people | date=17 November 2013 }}][{{cite web | url=https://venere.it/en/the-meaning-and-history-of-the-last-name-grobler | title=The meaning and history of the last name Grobler | date=31 July 2024 }}]
Another group of Europeans who settled in the Dutch Cape Colony came from Northern Europe (also known as '[Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia)'). In fact, they were amongst the earliest Europeans who settled in the Cape Colony, along with the Dutch and the Germans. Most Scandinavians in the Cape were VOC workers while others were independent traders who also needed the Cape as a halfway point to Asia and vice versa.[{{cite journal | last1=Winquist | first1=Alan | title=Scandinavians and South Africa | journal=Ayres Special Collection | date=January 1978 | url=https://pillars.taylor.edu/ayres-collection-books/12/ }}] The Scandinavians in the Cape mostly came from Sweden and Denmark while a few came from Norway and Finland.[{{Cite web| title=Scandinavians and South Africa | author=Alan H. Winquist | url=https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=ayres-collection-books | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820002934/https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=ayres-collection-books | archive-date=2022-08-20}}] As the VOC struggled to find Dutch volunteers to become workers, it turned to the Scandinavians. Scandinavians in the Cape were mostly missionaries, soldiers, administrators, traders, teachers, nurses, doctors and public servants.[{{cite web | url=https://www.baviaans.net/articles/the_ferreira_family_in_sa | title=The Ferreira Family in SA }}] Overtime, the white community of the Cape evolved into an ethnic group of [White South Africans](/source/White_South_Africans) who are now known as [Boers](/source/Boers)/[Afrikaners](/source/Afrikaners).
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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-cape-coloureds-are-a-mix-of-everything | title=The Cape Coloureds are a mix of everything }}][{{cite web | url=https://safrika.org/Personalia_en.html | title=German Immigrants to the Cape Colony under the Dutch 1652-1806 }}][{{cite web | url=https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-huguenots-in-south-africa/ | title=The Huguenots in South Africa }}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.studocu.com/en-za/document/university-of-johannesburg/historical-studies-1b/khoikhoi-dutch-relations/62351724 | title=Khoikhoi -Dutch relations - Aboriginal Khoikhoi Servants and Their Masters in Colonial Swellendam, - Studocu }}]
The most notorious ethnic group of Asian slaves in the Cape were the [Malays](/source/Malay_race) who came from Indonesia while some also came from [Malaysia](/source/Malaysian_Malays).[{{cite web | url=https://henristeenkamp.org/south-africas-forgotten-minority-cape-malays/ | title=South Africa's Forgotten Minority: The Cape Malays - Henri Steenkamp | date=10 February 2017 }}] Indonesian slaves were also made up of other tribes (such as the [Javanese people](/source/Javanese_people) from the island of [Java](/source/Java) and the [Balinese people](/source/Balinese_people) from the island of [Bali](/source/Bali)).[{{cite web | title=CAMISSA HERITAGE: Indigenes, Slaves, Indentured Labour and Migrants of Colour at the Cape of Good Hope | date=17 January 2018 | url=https://camissapeople.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/camissa-heritage-indigenes-slaves-indentured-labour-and-migrants-of-colour-at-the-cape-of-good-hope/ }}] Because Indonesia and Malaysia are both predominantly Muslim states, the slaves who were taken from these countries were the ones who introduced Islam into the Dutch Cape Colony, and Islam became the second-largest religion amongst Cape Coloureds, after Christianity.[{{cite web | url =https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/history-muslims-south-africa-1700-1799-ebrahim-mahomed-mahida | title =History of Muslims in South Africa: 1700 - 1799 by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Like the Christians, these Muslims also spread Islam through missionary work, hence it became the second-largest religion amongst Cape Coloureds.[{{cite web|url=https://naqshbandi.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/PAGES-FROM-CAPE-MUSLIM-HISTORY-V3.pdf|title=Pages from Cape Muslim History|first1=Yusuf da|last1=Costa|first2=Achmat|last2=Davids|publisher=Naqshbandi-Muḥammadi South Africa|isbn=0-7960-0622-9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413221353/https://naqshbandi.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/PAGES-FROM-CAPE-MUSLIM-HISTORY-V3.pdf|archive-date=13 April 2024|url-status=live}}] Indonesian Muslims were also known as '[Mardyckers](/source/Mardyckers)' or '[Mardijkers](/source/Mardijker_people)'.[{{cite journal | last1=Choudhury | first1=Manilata | title=The Mardijkers of Batavia: Construction of a Colonial Identity (1619-1650) | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress | date=2014 | volume=75 | pages=901–910 | jstor=44158475 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158475 }}] However, many Indonesians were also non-Muslims, therefore, they also converted to Christianity. Many Indonesians 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](/source/Dutch_East_Indies)).[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-malay | title=The Cape Malay {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] These Malays and other Indonesians had the largest non-European influence in the Cape Colony under Dutch rule.[{{cite web | title=The Cape Malay | url=https://www.scribd.com/document/799458895/The-Cape-Malay }}] The main reason behind this influence was that, unlike other enslaved ethnic groups in the Cape, Malay slaves and other Indonesian slaves were also royals, clerks, former politicians and former religious leaders who were initially brought as exiled prisoners; therefore, they used their influence and power to become prominent figures amongst the oppressed and enslaved people of the Cape.[{{cite journal|url=https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/32132c3b-2dca-4cc1-ab53-bb4f64d5c0ec/content|title=Beyond denial and exclusion: The history of relations between Christians and Muslims in the Cape Colony during the 17th–18th centuries with lessons for a post-colonial theology of religions|journal=HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies|publisher=AOSIS|eissn=2072-8050|issn=0259-9422|date=8 April 2016|first1=Jaco|last1=Beyers|doi=10.4102/hts.v72i1.3117|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260520072850/https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/32132c3b-2dca-4cc1-ab53-bb4f64d5c0ec/content|archive-date=20 May 2026|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}]
Although the majority of Malays (together with other Indonesian slaves and Malaysian slaves) in the Cape were interracially mixed into the Cape Coloured community, a small minority of them preserved their own community in order to keep their culture and influence alive, therefore, they became known as the '[Cape Malays](/source/Cape_Malays)' (also known as the 'Cape Muslims').[{{cite web | title =The Preservation of Cape Malay Culture in Cape Town — plak.co.za | date =27 March 2025 | url =https://plak.co.za/the-preservation-of-cape-malay-culture-in-cape-town/ }}] Because of their influence, other Muslims in the Cape were eventually absorbed into the Cape Malay community (especially Indian slaves, East African slaves and the latter immigrants and indentured labourers from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, India, Indonesia and Zanzibar who settled when the Cape Colony was under British rule, during the 1800s and the early 1900s), therefore the Cape Malays were also [creolised](/source/creolization).[{{cite web|url=https://taalmuseum.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Cape-Malay-a-South-African-Muslim-identity-borne-out-of-colonialism-aug-2021.pdf|title=Cape Malay: a South African Muslim identity borne out of colonialism|first1=Yaseen|last1=Kader|website=gal-dem.com|date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218200917/https://taalmuseum.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Cape-Malay-a-South-African-Muslim-identity-borne-out-of-colonialism-aug-2021.pdf|archive-date=18 December 2025|url-status=live}}][{{cite journal | last1 =Da Costa | first1 =Yusuf | title =Assimilatory processes amongst the Cape Muslims in South Africa during the 19th century | journal =South African Journal of Sociology | date =1992 | volume =23 | pages =5–11 | doi =10.1080/02580144.1992.10520103 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02580144.1992.10520103?needAccess=true | url-access =subscription }}] Due to many similarities between the Cape Coloureds and the Cape Malays, the two communities became intertwined, especially in Cape Town, which is the heart of the Cape Malay community in South Africa.[{{cite web | title =Conflict of Identities: The Case of South Africa's Cape Malays | url =https://uun-halimah.blogspot.com/2008/11/conflict-of-identities-case-of-south.html }}][{{cite web | title =Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Malays Create a Niche | date =17 March 2017 | url =https://thecasualobserver.co.za/port-elizabeth-yore-malay-population-port-elizabeth/}}][{{cite web | title =History of Muslims in South Africa: 1652 - 1699 by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida {{pipe}} South African History Online | url =https://sahistory.org.za/archive/history-muslims-south-africa-1652-1699-ebrahim-mahomed-mahida }}][{{Cite web| title=Concise historical review : Malay Camp | url=https://www.spu.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/03MalayCamp/AfricanaLibrary/03Newspaper_Documents/n.d.-Historical-view-of-the-Malay-Camp-p1-6.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218200919/https://www.spu.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/03MalayCamp/AfricanaLibrary/03Newspaper_Documents/n.d.-Historical-view-of-the-Malay-Camp-p1-6.pdf | archive-date=2025-12-18}}] Some Cape Malays even went beyond the Cape region and migrated into the interior of South Africa, especially after the discovery of gold in Johannesburg in 1886.[{{cite web | title =Research Portal | url=https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/esploro/outputs/graduate/The-Malay-community-of-Gauteng-syncretism/9913888607691 }}] However, during [Apartheid](/source/Apartheid), the Cape Malays were classified as a sub-group of 'Coloureds' due to similar ancestry with the Cape Coloureds and because the [Population Registration Act, 1950](/source/Population_Registration_Act%2C_1950) grouped South Africa's population into four races: [Black](/source/Bantu_peoples_of_South_Africa), [White](/source/White_South_Africans), Coloured and [Indian](/source/Indian_South_Africans).[{{cite journal | hdl = 10520/AJA10231757_695 | title = The Quest for 'Malay' identity in Apartheid South Africa | first = Goolam | last = Vahed | journal = Alternation | volume = 11 | year = 2004 | url = https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA10231757_695 }}] Therefore, many Cape Malays were forced to live in Coloured communities under the [Group Areas Act](/source/Group_Areas_Act) during Apartheid.[{{cite web | title =Indian Slaves in South Africa: Notes for monograph, 26 June 1995 {{pipe}} South African History Online | url =https://sahistory.org.za/archive/indian-slaves-south-africa-notes-monograph-26-june-1995#:~:text=Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20South%20Africa,Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20the%20Cape }}] From the beginning of slavery until the Cape fell under British rule in the early 19th centrury, many Indians, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis were brought to the Cape as slaves. These South Asian slaves were mostly farmworkers, carpenters, craftsmen, domestic workers and cooks. One of the earliest and most prominent Indian slaves in the Cape was [Angela Van Bengale](/source/Angela_Van_Bengale) (who hailed from the region of [Bengal](/source/Bengal)), who had a marriage and relationships with different white men and conceived 10 mixed-race children. At one stage, Indians formed the largest group of Asian slaves until their numbers dropped during the 18th century due to the restricted importation of Asian slaves.[{{cite web | title =Indian Slaves in South Africa: Notes for monograph, 26 June 1995 {{pipe}} South African History Online | url =https://sahistory.org.za/archive/indian-slaves-south-africa-notes-monograph-26-june-1995#:~:text=Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20South%20Africa,Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20the%20Cape }}] Due to large-scale miscegenation, the majority of Indian slaves, Sri Lankan slaves and Bangladeshi slaves in the Cape were interracially mixed into the Cape Coloured community, while the minority of these South Asian slaves (who were Muslims) were assimilated into the Cape Malay community.[{{Cite web | title=Indians in South Africa {{!}} Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History | url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1541 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250420175524/https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1541 | access-date=2026-05-14 | archive-date=2025-04-20}}][{{cite web | title =Indian Slaves in South Africa: Notes for monograph, 26 June 1995 {{pipe}} South African History Online | url =https://sahistory.org.za/archive/indian-slaves-south-africa-notes-monograph-26-june-1995#:~:text=Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20South%20Africa,Indians%20were%20taken%20into%20slavery%20in%20the%20Cape }}] These Indians also influenced Cape Malay cuisine (with dishes such as butter chicken, roti, samosas, chicken ahni, biryani, fish curry, chicken curry, other curries, and the use of many spices), which, in turn, influenced the traditional dishes of the Cape Coloured community especially in the current Western Cape.[{{cite web | title =Cape Malay Cuisine | url=https://southafrica.com/culture/food-recipes/cape-malay-cuisine/#:~:text=Cape%20Malay%20cuisine%20is%20one%20of%20South%20Africa%E2%80%99s,brought%20by%20Dutch%20colonizers%20in%20the%2017th%E2%80%9318th%20centuries }}]
The predominant African slaves in the Cape were the Southern African Bantu (who mostly came from the areas of present-day Mozambique and Angola) and the Malagasy people from Madagascar.[{{cite web | title =Slave Routes to the Cape – Slavery in South Africa | url=https://slavery.iziko.org.za/slaveroutestothecape/#:~:text=Slaves%20were%20brought%20from%20Madagascar%2C%20Mozambique%20and%20the,1658%20on%20board%20the%20Dutch%20ship%2C%20the%20Amersfoort }}] African slaves were also imported from Central Africa, West Africa, East Africa and Mauritius.[{{cite web | title=2: African & Asian Enslaved Peoples - Camissa Museum | url=https://camissamuseum.co.za/index.php/7-tributaries/2-african-asian-enslaved-peoples }}] The very first slave ship to arrive in the Cape was the Amersfoort, which carried slaves from Angola.[{{cite web | title=Slave Routes to Cape Town – Slavery in South Africa | url=https://slavery.iziko.org.za/slave_routes_to_cape_town/ }}] The second large group of slaves also came from West Africa.[{{cite web | title=2: African & Asian Enslaved Peoples - Camissa Museum | url=https://www.camissamuseum.co.za/index.php/7-tributaries/2-african-asian-enslaved-peoples }}][{{cite web | title=History of Masbiekers Valley | work=Masbiekers Valley Project | date=20 January 2019 | url=https://masbiekersvalleyprojectorg.wordpress.com/2019/01/20/history-of-masbiekers-valley/ }}] The Bantu slaves (from different parts of Southern Africa, Central Africa and East Africa) also introduced the [Ngoma drum](/source/Ngoma_drum), which became an instrument used during the [Kaapse Klopse](/source/Kaapse_Klopse).[{{cite web | title=The Cultural Significance of South African Ghoema Music: History, Instruments, and Social Role | date=26 August 2024 | url=https://www.momentslog.com/culture/the-cultural-significance-of-south-african-ghoema-music-history-instruments-and-social-role }}][{{cite web | title=Lydia Williams (Masbiekers) - Camissa Museum | url=https://camissamuseum.co.za/index.php/7-tributaries/2-african-asian-enslaved-peoples/lydia-williams-masbiekers }}] The word 'Ngoma' refers to a drum in most Bantu languages while it also refers to a song in some Bantu languages. Due to the Dutch influence and the massive creolisation, the word 'Ngoma' was creolised into 'Gomma' and it evolved into the term '[Ghoema](/source/Ghoema)'.[{{cite journal | jstor=23232400 | title=The Making of Two Frontier Communities: Cape Colony in the Eighteenth Century | last1=Guelke | first1=Leonard | journal=Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques | date=1985 | volume=12 | issue=3 | pages=419–448 }}] From the 18th century until the formation of the [Union of South Africa](/source/Union_of_South_Africa) in 1910, the territory of the Cape expanded gradually to the north and east.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-northern-frontier | title=The Cape Northern Frontier {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] 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.[{{Cite web| title=The territorial expansion of the Cape Colony eastward between 1808-1836. | url=https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/6237124e-c438-4a5f-9990-3c611efae274/content | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706172151/https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/6237124e-c438-4a5f-9990-3c611efae274/content | archive-date=2024-07-06}}] By the 1750s, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached present-day [Swellendam](/source/Swellendam) and by the end of the Dutch rule (after British annexation in 1814), the territory of the Cape had already reached certain parts of present-day [Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape) and the [Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape), leading to the arrival of Afrikaners/Boers with their multiracial slaves in different parts of the Cape.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/political-changes-1750-1820 | title=Political changes from 1750 to 1820 {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] 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](/source/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](/source/Cape_Colony): this time between the white and the [Khoisan](/source/Khoisan)s in present-day [Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape), and between the white and the [Xhosa](/source/Xhosa_people) in present-day [Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape), with more mixed race children being conceived, who also became part of the Cape Coloureds.[{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Southern-Africa/European-and-African-interaction-in-the-19th-century | title=Southern Africa - European and African interaction in the 19th century {{pipe}} Britannica | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica }}]
Miscegenation in the eastern part of the Cape (which is now the '[Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape)') dates to the late 1600s which began as a result of the shipwrecks.[{{cite web | url=https://camissapeople.wordpress.com/7-steps-of-cape-identity/ | title=Cape Identity | date=19 May 2013 }}] The [Wild Coast Region](/source/Wild_Coast_Region%2C_Eastern_Cape) of the Eastern Cape (which stretches from the provincial border with Natal to [East London](/source/East_London%2C_South_Africa) and [Port Alfred](/source/Port_Alfred)) is named after its wilderness and the stormy seas that caused thousands of shipwrecks, especially during the 1700s.[{{cite web | url=https://www.wildcoast.co.za/ships-wrecked | title=Ships wrecked {{pipe}} Wild Coast }}] Survivors of the shipwrecks (most of whom were Europeans while some were Asians) settled on the Wild Coast. Having no means to reach their intended destination, most survivors remained permanently in the Eastern Cape and mixed with the Xhosa.[{{cite web | url=https://scrolla.africa/bessie-the-white-queen-of-the-mpondo-of-the-eastern-cape/ | title=Bessie, the white queen of the Mpondo of the Eastern Cape | date=18 August 2022 }}][{{cite web | url=https://aiart.africa/index.php/component/content/article/abelungu-a-xhosa-clan-that-raised-a-shipwrecked-white-child-into-a-xhosa-leader?catid=9&Itemid=259 | title=Abelungu - A Xhosa clan that raised a shipwrecked white child into a Xhosa leader }}] Within the same period, many escaped slaves from the Dutch Cape Colony (also known as 'Maroons') fled to the East where they sought refuge and then they were soon followed by the [Trekboers](/source/Trekboers) who were on their way to the [Karoo](/source/Karoo), while some of them also 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](/source/Coenraad_de_Buys), who fathered many mixed race children with his many African wives (who were Khoi Khoi and Xhosa) and one of them was Chief Ngqika's mother, Yese, wife of Mlawu kaRarabe.[{{cite web | url=https://debuys.blogspot.com/2011/02/who-was-coenraad-de-buys.html | title=De Buys Genealogy: Who was Coenraad de Buys? | date=3 February 2011 }}] 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](/source/Graaff-Reinet) region which led to the arrival of Boers/Afrikaners with their multiracial slaves.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/political-changes-1750-1820 | title=Political changes from 1750 to 1820 {{pipe}} South African History Online }}][{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/graaff-reinet | title=Graaff-Reinet {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] 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 had mixed with different ethnicities and eventually multiracial people in the Eastern Cape also became part of the Cape Coloured.[{{cite web | url=https://southafrica.co.za/trekboers-richtersveld.html | title=Trekboers of the Richtersveld }}] Some Trekboers even went as far as the [Orange River](/source/Orange_River) and beyond to the Southern part of the [Kalahari](/source/Kalahari) and in all these areas, they met the [Khoisan](/source/Khoisan)s (the [San](/source/San_people) and the [Khoi Khoi](/source/Khoekhoe)).[{{cite web | url=https://www.weskusontheline.co.za/2024/10/04/the-forgotten-highway-ancestral-journeys/ | title=The Forgotten Highway – Ancestral Journeys – First with the News | date=4 October 2024 }}] To survive in this hot and dry region, the Trekboers adopted the nomadic lifestyle of the Khoisans and some even mixed with the Khoisans.[{{Cite web |title=Trekboers: Chapter 1 of 'The Great Trek' |url=https://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/ransford/chap1.htm |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=www.ourcivilisation.com}}][{{Cite web |title=South Africa - Emergence of a Settler Society |url=https://countrystudies.us/south-africa/6.htm |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=countrystudies.us}}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/griqualand-west | title=Griqualand West {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] Then the [Basters](/source/Basters), [Oorlams](/source/Oorlam_people) and some Cape Coloureds migrated to the North as well and some of them even went as far as present-day [Namibia](/source/Namibia).[{{cite web | url=https://camissamuseum.co.za/index.php/7-tributaries/5-maroons-orlam-drosters | title=5: Maroons, Orlam & Drosters - Camissa Museum }}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/republic-griqualand-west-or-diggers-republic | title=Republic of Griqualand West or the Digger's Republic {{pipe}} South African History Online }}][{{cite journal | url=https://pure.uj.ac.za/en/publications/history-of-the-okiep-copper-district-namaqualand-northern-cape-pr | title=History of the Okiep copper district, Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province, South Africa | journal=Mineralogical Record | date=July 2004 | volume=35 | issue=4 | pages=289–317 | last1=Cairncross | first1=Bruce }}][{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/slavery-abolished-cape#:~:text=On%201%20December%201834%2C%20slavery%20came%20to%20an,of%20Commons%20and%20by%20the%20House%20of%20Lords | title=Slavery is abolished at the Cape {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] 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](/source/District_Six). 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).[{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/38523613 | title=CAMISSA HERITAGE - Origin and History of South African Cape Coloured People | last1=Skies | first1=Infinite | date=10 March 2019 }}][{{Cite web |title=Lithuanian footsteps in South Africa |url=https://vilnews.com/2011-01-south-africa |access-date=2025-08-22}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357167610_History_of_the_German_Settlers_in_the_Eastern_Cape|title=History of the German Settlers in the Eastern Cape|publisher=ResearchGate|first1=Gisela|last1=Zipp|date=September 2012}}]
thumb|Felix Florez, a Filipino man in kalk Bay in 1863
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](/source/Kalk_Bay) where they fished for a living and then Kalk Bay became their new home.[{{cite web | url=https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/notice/history-filipino-community-recognized-kalk-bay | title=History of Filipino community recognized in Kalk Bay! {{pipe}} the Heritage Portal }}] 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](/source/Western_Cape), where most of them were eventually absorbed into the Cape Coloured community.[{{Cite web| title=Kalk Bay Historical Association | url=https://www.kbha.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Bulletin-Number-1.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518220324/http://www.kbha.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Bulletin-Number-1.pdf | archive-date=2023-05-18}}] As a result, many Cape Coloureds can trace some of their roots to the Philippines due to the Filipinos of Kalk Bay.[{{cite web | last1=Morton | first1=Fred | editor-first1=Thabo | editor-last1=Leshilo | url=https://theconversation.com/the-story-of-oromo-slaves-bound-for-arabia-who-were-brought-to-south-africa-116607 | title=The story of Oromo slaves bound for Arabia who were brought to South Africa | date=9 May 2019 | doi=10.64628/AAJ.ts9kw33ck }}] In 1890, the British troops brought these freed Oromo slaves to [Lovedale Mission](/source/Lovedale_Mission) in present-day Eastern Cape where many of them became part of the Cape Coloured.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dr-neville-edward-alexander | title=Dr. Neville Edward Alexander {{pipe}} South African History Online }}]
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.)[{{cite web | url=https://martinplaut.com/2021/02/14/why-cape-towns-district-six-devastated-so-many-years-ago-is-still-vital/ | title=Why Cape Town's District Six – devastated so many years ago – is still vital | date=14 February 2021 }}] Many of these groups were absorbed into the Cape coloured community.[{{cite web | url=https://bokaap.org/district-six-exploring-the-rich-history-of-cape-towns-iconic-neighbourhood/ | title=District Six: Exploring the Rich History of Cape Town's Iconic Neighbourhood | date=12 April 2023 }}] 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 were absorbed into the Cape Coloured community, further diversifying the ancestry of Cape Coloureds.[{{cite web | url=https://italyincapetown.co.za/italians-in-south-africa-1800/ | title=Italians in South Africa 1800 - Italy in Cape Town | date=12 November 2022 }}][{{Cite web |last=Chrysopoulos |first=Philip |date=2023-06-08 |title=The Turbulent Story of Greeks in South Africa |url=https://greekreporter.com/2023/06/08/the-turbulent-story-of-greeks-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=GreekReporter.com |language=en-US}}]
During the 20th century (under British rule from 1910 to 1948 and Apartheid regime from 1948 to 1994), many [Khoisan](/source/Khoisan)s living in the [Cape Province](/source/Cape_Province) were assimilated into the Cape Coloured community, especially in the North of the Cape (now the '[Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape)').[{{Cite web |title=Khoisan Identity {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://sahistory.org.za/article/khoisan-identity |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=sahistory.org.za |language=en}}] 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.[{{Cite web |title=NCESC |url=https://www.ncesc.com/ |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=Discovering Employment Paths and Travel Experiences |language=en-US}}]
As a result, the Cape Coloureds have the most diverse ancestry in the world with a blend of many different ancestries.[{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s00439-010-0836-1 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44618878 |title=Genome-wide analysis of the structure of the South African Coloured Population in the Western Cape |date=2010 |last1=De Wit |first1=Erika |last2=Delport |first2=Wayne |last3=Rugamika |first3=Chimusa E. |last4=Meintjes |first4=Ayton |last5=Möller |first5=Marlo |last6=Van Helden |first6=Paul D. |last7=Seoighe |first7=Cathal |last8=Hoal |first8=Eileen G. |journal=Human Genetics |volume=128 |issue=2 |pages=145–153 |pmid=20490549 }}] 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:[{{cite journal|title=Genome-wide analysis of the structure of the South African Coloured Population in the Western Cape|journal=Human Genetics|date=August 2010|pmid=20490549|doi=10.1007/s00439-010-0836-1|volume=128|issue=2|pages=145–53|last1 = de Wit|first1 = E|last2 = Delport|first2 = W|last3 = Rugamika|first3 = CE|last4 = Meintjes|first4 = A|last5 = Möller|first5 = M|last6 = van Helden|first6 = PD|last7 = Seoighe|first7 = C|last8 = Hoal|first8 = EG|s2cid=24696284|doi-access = free}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Pfennig |first1=Aaron |last2=Petersen |first2=Lindsay N |last3=Kachambwa |first3=Paidamoyo |last4=Lachance |first4=Joseph |date=2023-04-06 |editor-last=Eyre-Walker |editor-first=Adam |title=Evolutionary Genetics and Admixture in African Populations |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |article-number=evad054 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evad054 |issn=1759-6653 |pmc=10118306 |pmid=36987563}}]
* African ([Khoisan](/source/Khoisan)): 19.1 - 43.0%[{{Cite journal |last1=Lankheet|first1=Imke|title=Wide-scale Geographical Analysis of Genetic Ancestry in the South African Coloured Population|date=22 July 2025|doi=10.1186/s12915-025-02317-5|journal=BMC Biology|language=en|last2=Hammarén|first2=Rickard|last3=Caballero|first3=Lucía Ximena Alva|last4=Larena|first4=Maximilian|last5=Malmström|first5=Helena|last6=Jolly|first6=Cecile|last7=Soodyall|first7=Himla|last8=Jongh|first8=Michael de|last9=Schlebusch|first9=Carina|volume=23|issue=1|article-number=219|doi-access=free|pmid=40696318|pmc=12281806|quote=A number of studies has investigated the genetics of the SAC individuals [13, 26–29], mainly of those living close to Cape Town. They confirm the inferences drawn from historical records: the six main demographic groups that contributed to the genetic pool of the SAC were the Khoe-San (19.1–43.0%), Bantu-speakers/West Africans (17.9–33.0%), East Africans (< 3%), South Asians/Indians, Southeast Asians (Asian ancestries: 9.0–19.9%) and Europeans (19.3–38.5%)}}]
* Europeans: 19.3 - 38.5%
* African ([Bantu](/source/Bantu_peoples)): 17.9 - 33.0%
* Peoples from [South](/source/South_Asia) and [Southeast Asia](/source/Southeast_Asia): 9.0 - 19.9%[{{Cite journal |last1=Petersen |first1=Desiree C. |last2=Libiger |first2=Ondrej |last3=Tindall |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Hardie |first4=Rae-Anne |last5=Hannick |first5=Linda I. |last6=Glashoff |first6=Richard H. |last7=Mukerji |first7=Mitali |last8=Indian Genome Variation Consortium |last9=Fernandez |first9=Pedro |last10=Haacke |first10=Wilfrid |last11=Schork |first11=Nicholas J. |last12=Hayes |first12=Vanessa M. |date=2013-03-14 |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Scott M. |title=Complex Patterns of Genomic Admixture within Southern Africa |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |article-number=e1003309 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003309 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=3597481 |pmid=23516368}}][{{cite journal |last1=Quintana-Murci |first1=L |last2=Harmant |first2=C |last3=H |first3=Quach |last4=Balanovsky |first4=O |last5=Zaporozhchenko |first5=V |last6=Bormans |first6=C |last7=van Helden |first7=PD |display-authors=etal |year=2010 |title=Strong maternal Khoisan contribution to the South African coloured population: a case of gender-biased admixture |url= |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=611–620 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2010.02.014 |pmc=2850426 |pmid=20346436}}][{{cite journal |last1=Schlebusch |first1=CM |last2=Naidoo |first2=T |last3=Soodyall |first3=H |year=2009 |title=SNaPshot minisequencing to resolve mitochondrial macro-haplogroups found in Africa |journal=Electrophoresis |volume=30 |issue=21 |pages=3657–3664 |doi=10.1002/elps.200900197 |pmid=19810027 |s2cid=19515426}}][{{Cite thesis|title=The "Coloured" Community of Durban: A Study of Changing Perceptions of Identity|last=Fynn|first= Lorraine Margaret|date=1991|publisher=University of Natal|location=Durban|url=https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10413/6802/Fynn_Lorraine_Margaret_1991.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|type=Master of Social Science}}][{{Cite thesis|title=Through a Coloured Lens: Post-Apartheid Identity amongst Coloureds in KZN|last=Palmer|first= Fileve T.|date=2015|hdl=2022/19854|type=PhD|publisher=Indiana University|location=Bloomington, Ind}}]
The genetic reference cluster term "Khoisan" itself refers to a colonially admixed population cluster, hence the concatenation, and is not a straightforward reference to ancient African pastoralist and hunter ancestry, which is often demarcated by the L0 haplogroup ancestry common in the general South African native population which is also integral part of other aboriginal genetic reference cluster terms like "South-East African Bantu".[{{Cite journal |last1=Barbieri |first1=Chiara |last2=Vicente |first2=Mário |last3=Rocha |first3=Jorge |last4=Mpoloka |first4=Sununguko W. |last5=Stoneking |first5=Mark |last6=Pakendorf |first6=Brigitte |date=2013-02-07 |title=Ancient Substructure in Early mtDNA Lineages of Southern Africa |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=285–292 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.12.010 |issn=0002-9297 |pmc=3567273 |pmid=23332919}}]
In the 21st century, Coloured people constitute a plurality of the population in the provinces of [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape) (48.8%), and a large minority in the [Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape) (40.3%); both areas have experienced centuries of mixing among the populations. In the [Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape), they make up (8.3%) of the population.
====Griqua====
{{Main|Griqua people}}
[[Image:Adam_kok_III.jpg|thumbnail|left|[Adam Kok III](/source/Adam_Kok_III), leader of the Coloured Griqua People]]
During the 17th and 18th century in the Dutch Cape Colony, interracial unions that were primarily between the [West European](/source/West_European) (especially the Dutch) and the [Khoi Khoi](/source/Khoi_Khoi) created a group of mixed-race individuals that became known as the [Griqua](/source/Griqua_people).[{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/19907156 |title=The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Autonomy in South Africa |website=academia.edu |date=2015 |access-date=2024-12-15}}] 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.[{{Cite book |last=Schweitzer |first=Erwin |url=https://www.academia.edu/19907156 |title=The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Autonomy in South Africa |date=2015-12-30}}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://pletthistory.org/the-story-of-the-griqua-re-visited/ | title=The Story of the Griqua Re-visited {{pipe}} the van Plettenberg Historical Society }}]
The actual name 'Griqua' was derived from the Chariaguriqua people whose princess became the wife of the first Griqua leader, [Adam Kok](/source/Adam_Kok).[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/griqua | title=Griqua {{pipe}} South African History Online }}] 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](/source/Griqualand_West) and [Griqualand East](/source/Griqualand_East).[{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/2158244016673873 | title=Racialism and Representation in the Rainbow Nation | date=2016 | last1=Palmer | first1=Fileve T. | journal=SAGE Open | volume=6 | issue=4 | article-number=2158244016673873 | doi-access=free }}] This time, it was mainly between the [British](/source/British_people) and the [Zulu](/source/Zulu_people) with an addition of British intermixing with [Indians](/source/Indian_South_Africans) and the arrival of immigrants from [St Helena](/source/St_Helena), and [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius) that married locally.[{{Cite journal |last1=Moores |first1=Phyllis |last2=Vaaja |first2=Ulla |last3=Smart |first3=Elizabeth |date=1991 |title=D__ andDc_ Gene Complexes in the Coloureds and Blacks of Natal and the Eastern Cape and Blood Group Phenotype and Gene Frequency Studies in the Natal Coloured Population |url=https://karger.com/HHE/article/doi/10.1159/000154016 |journal=Human Heredity |language=en |volume=41 |issue=5 |pages=295–304 |doi=10.1159/000154016 |pmid=1778605 |issn=1423-0062|url-access=subscription }}]
After the Boer republic [Natalia](/source/Natalia_Republic) was annexed by the British rulers, it became the [Natal](/source/Colony_of_Natal) in 1845. When the British started settling in Natal from the mid-19th century, they established sugarcane plantations especially in the coastal regions ([Durban](/source/Durban), [Stanger](/source/KwaDukuza) etc.) and these plantations required intensive labour as well.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sugarvillage.co.za/news/A-Brief-History-of-Durbans-Sugar-Cane | title=A Brief History of Durban's Sugar Cane | work=Sugar Village, Umhlali }}] Struggling to find labour from the local [Zulu](/source/Zulu_people), the British decided to import thousands of labourers from India to work on the sugarcane plantations of Natal.[{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/indian-indentured-labour-natal-1860-1911 | title=Indian Indentured Labour in Natal 1860-1911 {{pipe}} South African History Online }}]
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'.[{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/70281903 | title=Through a Coloured lens: Post-Apartheid identity formation amongst Coloureds in KZN | date=January 2015 | last1=Palmer | first1=Fileve | page=71 }}] 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.[{{Cite web |last=Glen |title=John Robert Dunn |url=https://acearchive.org/john-robert-dunn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218101932/https://acearchive.org/john-robert-dunn |archive-date=2024-12-18 |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=acearchive.org |language=en}}] Another British man who practised polygamy was [Henry Fynn](/source/Henry_Francis_Fynn) who had four Zulu wives and multiple mixed-race children.[{{cite web|url=https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/5e1a0e77-5ac6-46d6-bc02-8b6c29c47f79/content|title=Henry Francis Fynn and The Fynn Community in Natal 1824 - 1988|first1=Shirron|last1=Bramdeow|date=1988|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216174948/https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/5e1a0e77-5ac6-46d6-bc02-8b6c29c47f79/content|archive-date=16 December 2024|url-status=live}}] Although [Henry Ogle](/source/Henry_Ogle) (a British trader from [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire)) 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](/source/Umkomaas).[{{cite web | url=https://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I114401 | title=Henry Ogle, 1820 Settler b. 1800 Yorkshire, England d. 20 Feb 1860 Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa: British 1820 Settlers to South Africa }}]
====Apartheid====
During the [apartheid era](/source/History_of_South_Africa_in_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](/source/white_supremacy) and maintain racial divisions. Individuals were classified as [White South Africans](/source/White_South_Africans) (formally classified as "European"), [Black South Africans](/source/Bantu_peoples_in_South_Africa) (formally classified as "Native", "Bantu" or simply "African" and constituting the majority of the population), Coloureds (mixed-race) and [Indians](/source/Indian_South_Africans) (formally classified as "Asian").[{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/abdurahman-a.htm|title=Dr Abdullah Abdurahman 1872 - 1940|publisher=South African History Online|access-date=2009-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121035811/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/abdurahman-a.htm|archive-date=2007-11-21}}] Many Coloured people later joined the [African National Congress](/source/African_National_Congress) and the [United Democratic Front](/source/United_Democratic_Front_(South_Africa)). 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](/source/Cape_Colony) (though income and property qualifications affected them disproportionately). In the [Transvaal Republic](/source/Transvaal_Republic) or the [Orange Free State](/source/Orange_Free_State), 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](/source/Union_of_South_Africa) 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](/source/National_Party_(South_Africa)) in 1948. It carried out an apartheid programme that stripped Coloured people of their remaining voting powers.
The term "[kaffir](/source/Kaffir_(racial_term))" 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.[{{Cite book |title=Burdened by race: Coloured identities in southern Africa |date=2013 |publisher=UCT Press |isbn=978-1-920516-60-4 |editor-last=Adhikari |editor-first=Mohamed |location=Cape Town}}][Mathabane, M. (1986). Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Simon & Schuster. (Chapter 2)]
===Apartheid era===
thumb|Explanation of South African identity numbers in an identity document during apartheid in terms of official White, Coloured and Indian population subgroups
Coloured people were subject to forced relocation. For instance, the government relocated Coloured from the urban Cape Town areas of [District Six](/source/District_Six), which was later bulldozed. Other areas they were forced to leave included [Constantia](/source/Constantia%2C_Cape_Town), [Claremont](/source/Claremont%2C_Cape_Town), [Simon's Town](/source/Simon's_Town). Inhabitants were moved to racially designated sections of the metropolitan area on the [Cape Flats](/source/Cape_Flats). 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](/source/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](/source/Nasionale_Party) majority. Coloured participation on juries was removed in 1954, and efforts to [abolish their participation on](/source/Coloured_vote_constitutional_crisis) the common voters' roll in the [Cape Province](/source/Cape_Province) escalated drastically; it was [accomplished in 1956](/source/South_Africa_Act_Amendment_Act%2C_1956) by a supermajority amendment to the [1951 Separate Representation of Voters Act](/source/Separate_Representation_of_Voters_Act%2C_1951), passed by Malan but held back by the judiciary as unconstitutional under the [South Africa Act](/source/South_Africa_Act%2C_1909), 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](/source/Cape_Qualified_Franchise), 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](/source/House_of_Assembly_of_South_Africa). Two Whites would be elected to the [Cape Provincial Council](/source/Cape_Provincial_Council) and the [governor general](/source/Governor_General_of_the_Union_of_South_Africa) could appoint one [senator](/source/Senate_of_South_Africa). Both blacks and Whites opposed this measure, particularly from the [United Party](/source/United_Party_(South_Africa)) and more liberal opposition. The [Torch Commando](/source/Torch_Commando) was prominent, while the [Black Sash](/source/Black_Sash) (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](/source/Westminster_system). 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](/source/Population_Registration_Act), as amended, Coloureds were formally classified into various subgroups, including [Cape Coloureds](/source/Cape_Coloureds), [Cape Malays](/source/Cape_Malays) and "other coloured". A portion of the small [Chinese South African](/source/Chinese_South_African) community was also classified as a coloured subgroup.[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120423220247/http://heritage.thetimes.co.za/memorials/wc/RaceClassificationBoard/article.aspx?id=591128 An appalling "science"]][
{{Cite book |last=Leach |first=Graham |url=http://archive.org/details/southafricanoeas0000leac |title=South Africa: no easy path to peace |date=1986 |publisher=London; Boston : Routledge & Kegan Paul |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7102-0848-4 |page=70}}]
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](/source/Coloured_Persons_Representative_Council) turned out to be a constitutional hitch{{clarify|date=January 2012}} 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](/source/South_African_constitutional_reform_referendum%2C_1983), in which 66.3% of White voters supported the change, the [Constitution](/source/South_African_Constitution_of_1983) was reformed to allow the Coloured and [Indian](/source/Indian_South_Africans) minorities limited participation in separate and subordinate Houses in a [tricameral](/source/tricameral) [Parliament](/source/Parliament_of_South_Africa). 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](/source/South_Africa_general_election%2C_1994).
===Post-apartheid era===
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
During the 1994 all-race elections, Coloured people voted heavily for the white [National Party](/source/National_Party_(South_Africa)), which in its first contest with a non-white majority won 20% of the vote and a majority in the new [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape) province – much due to Cape Coloured support. The National Party recast itself as the [New National Party](/source/New_National_Party_(South_Africa)) 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](/source/African_National_Congress) 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](/source/Democratic_Alliance_(South_Africa)), with some opting for minor parties such as [Vryheidsfront](/source/Freedom_Front_Plus) and [Patricia de Lille](/source/Patricia_de_Lille)'s [Independent Democrats](/source/Independent_Democrats), with lukewarm support for the ANC.
Since the late 20th century, Coloured [identity politics](/source/identity_politics) have grown in influence. The Western Cape has been a site of the rise of opposition parties, such as the [Democratic Alliance](/source/Democratic_Alliance_(South_Africa)) (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](/source/Democratic_Alliance_(South_Africa)) 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](/source/Independent_Democrats), 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](/source/Peter_Marais) (formerly a provincial leader of the New National Party) has sought to portray his [New Labour Party](/source/New_Labour_Party_(South_Africa)) 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](/source/Ebrahim_Rasool) (previously Western Cape premier), [Beatrice Marshoff](/source/Beatrice_Marshoff), John Schuurman, [Allan Hendrickse](/source/Allan_Hendrickse) and [Trevor Manuel](/source/Trevor_Manuel), 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."[{{cite web|url=http://www.hsf.org.za/resource-centre/focus/issues-31-40/issue-37-first-quarter-2005/a-hollowing-out-of-our-democracy|title=A hollowing-out of our democracy?|last=Welsh|first=David|publisher=Helen Suzman Foundation|year=2005|access-date=2009-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725184207/http://www.hsf.org.za/resource-centre/focus/issues-31-40/issue-37-first-quarter-2005/a-hollowing-out-of-our-democracy|archive-date=2011-07-25}}]
In the 2004 election, voter apathy was high in historically Coloured areas.[{{cite web|url=http://www.idasa.org.za/index.asp?page=output_details.asp%3FRID%3D60%26Pub%3DY%26OTID%3D5|title=Election Synopsis - How the West was Won (and Lost) - May 2004|first=Jonathan|last=Faull|publisher=Institute for Democracy in Africa|date=June 21, 2004|access-date=2009-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618021945/http://www.idasa.org.za/index.asp?page=output_details.asp%3FRID%3D60&Pub=Y&OTID=5|archive-date=June 18, 2008}}] 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.[{{Cite news |date=April 20, 2011 |title=BBC News - How race still colours South African elections |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13144324 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120130536/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13144324 |archive-date=November 20, 2014 |work=BBC News}}]
==Coloureds in other southern African countries==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
[[Image:South Africa racial map, 1979.gif|thumb|350px|Racial-demographic map of South Africa published by the [CIA](/source/Central_Intelligence_Agency) in 1979, with data from the 1970 South African census]]
The term [Coloured](/source/Coloured_People_in_Namibia) is also used in Namibia, to describe persons of [mixed race](/source/mixed_race), specifically part Khoisan, and part European. The ''[Baster](/source/Baster)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](/source/South_West_Africa). In Namibia, [Coloureds](/source/Coloured_People_in_Namibia) 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](/source/Goffal)'' 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](/source/Rhodesia)'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](/source/Eswatini).
==Culture==
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2023}}
===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===
[[File:Tyla Seethal 2022 a.png|thumb|[Tyla](/source/Tyla), a Coloured South African singer of Zulu, Irish and Indian heritage.]]
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](/source/Kaapse_Klopse) 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](/source/Sydney_Vernon_Petersen), and [P.J. Philander](/source/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===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2021}}
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:[{{cite web|url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf|title=Census 2022 Statistical Release|publisher=Statistics South Africa|access-date=2024-11-01}}]
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Province
!Population
!% of Coloureds
!% of province
|-
|[Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape)
|align=right|{{nts|547741}}
|align=right|10.84
|align=right|7.58
|-
|[Free State](/source/Free_State_(South_African_province))
|align=right|{{nts|78141}}
|align=right|1.55
|align=right|2.64
|-
|[Gauteng](/source/Gauteng)
|align=right|{{nts|443857}}
|align=right|8.79
|align=right|2.94
|-
|[KwaZulu-Natal](/source/KwaZulu-Natal)
|align=right|{{nts|183019}}
|align=right|3.62
|align=right|1.47
|-
|[Limpopo](/source/Limpopo)
|align=right|{{nts|18409}}
|align=right|0.36
|align=right|0.28
|-
|[Mpumalanga](/source/Mpumalanga)
|align=right|{{nts|32100}}
|align=right|0.64
|align=right|0.62
|-
|[North West](/source/North_West_(South_African_province))
|align=right|{{nts|60720}}
|align=right|1.20
|align=right|1.60
|-
|[Northern Cape](/source/Northern_Cape)
|align=right|{{nts|563605}}
|align=right|11.16
|align=right|41.58
|-
|[Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape)
|align=right|{{nts|3124757}}
|align=right|61.85
|align=right|42.07
|-
|Total
|align=right|{{nts|5052349}}
|align=right|100.0
|align=right|8.15
|}
==Language==
The majority of Coloureds in South Africa speak [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans) as their home language, while a smaller minority of the Coloureds speak English as their home language.[{{cite web | url=https://southafrica-info.com/infographics/languages-black-coloured-indian-white-south-africans-speak/ | title=What languages do black, coloured, Indian and white South Africans speak? | date=9 June 2019 }}] Most English-speaking Coloureds live in [KwaZulu-Natal](/source/KwaZulu-Natal) (especially in its biggest city, [Durban](/source/Durban)) mainly because of their partial British heritage that is mainly mixed with Zulu and because of the extreme [anglicisation](/source/anglicisation) of Natal.[{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/38654653 | title=Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1953-1963 | last1=Chikumbu | first1=Anotida | last2=Zibani | first2=Romeo | date=28 March 2019 }}]
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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/40384124 | title=A Brief History of the Afrikaans Language | last1=Solloway | first1=Hannah S. }}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://aswica.co.za/how-south-africa-s-official-language-changed-from/ | title=How South Africa's Official Language Changed from 1600 to 2009 - Explained! December 2024 - Aswica.Co.Za | date=29 August 2023 }}] 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.[{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/language-in-south-africa/afrikaans-considering-origins/D3738714720F48E55096C620FB870CF2 | doi=10.1017/CBO9780511486692.005 | chapter=Afrikaans: Considering origins | title=Language in South Africa | date=2002 | last1=Roberge | first1=Paul T. | pages=79–103 | isbn=978-0-521-79105-2 }}]
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](/source/Malay_language), Portuguese, [Khoekhoegowab](/source/Khoekhoegowab) etc.) and new dialects were formed.[{{cite web | url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/south-africa/articles/the-global-origins-of-afrikaans | title=The Global Origins of Afrikaans | date=27 March 2020 }}] 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.[{{cite web | url=https://www.afrikaans.us/afrikaans/culture/oor-afrikaans/the-roots-of-afrikaans/ | title=Afrikaans.us: The Roots of Afrikaans }}] It is because of this mixture that Afrikaans borrowed many words from different languages despite being the daughter language of Dutch.[{{cite web | url=https://humanities.nwu.ac.za/languages/afrikaans-and-dutch | title=Afrikaans and Dutch {{pipe}} humanities.nwu.ac.za }}] 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.[{{cite web |title=Census 2022 Statistical Release |url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |website=census.statssa.gov.za |publisher=Statistics South Africa}}] And it is why there are more Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds than the Afrikaans-speaking whites.[{{cite web | url=https://www.capetownmagazine.com/kaaps | title=What's the Deal with Kaaps? {{pipe}} Cape Dutch, Cape Coloured Afrikaans Languages }}] Kaaps is viewed as the older dialect of Afrikaans because it was spoken by the slaves of the Cape from the 17th century.[{{cite journal | jstor=211217 | title=The "Coloured" Community in the Union of South Africa | last1=Buchanan | first1=Keith | last2=Hurwitz | first2=N. | journal=Geographical Review | date=1950 | volume=40 | issue=3 | pages=397–414 | doi=10.2307/211217 | bibcode=1950GeoRv..40..397B}}] 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.[{{cite book | url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=mLzYEAAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT55.w.0.2.13_7&hl=en | isbn=978-1-77619-150-5 | title=Coloured: How Classification Became Culture | date=September 2023 | publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers }}][{{cite journal | doi=10.3406/cea.1960.3680 |doi-access=free | title=Miscegenation in South Africa | date=1960 | last1=Van Den Berghe | first1=Pierre L. | journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines | volume=1 | issue=4 | pages=68–84 }}][{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/124102299 | title= Miscegenation Madness| journal= Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race| date=January 2024 | last1=Jackson | first1=Sebastian | volume= 21| issue= 2| pages= 223–249|doi=10.1017/S1742058X24000080| doi-access=free}}] Afrikaans-speaking coloureds are also found in Namibia, especially in the southern region of the country.[{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/119803964 | title=KhoeSan Identity and Language in South Africa: Articulations of Reclamation | journal= Critical Arts| date=11 July 2022 | last1=Barnabas | first1=Shanade | volume=33 | issue=4–5 | pages=89–103 |doi=10.1080/02560046.2019.1702071 }}]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Language
! Number in 2011
! %
|-
|[Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans_language) || align=right| {{nts|3442164}} || align=right | 74.58%
|-
|English || align=right| {{nts|945847}} || align=right | 20.49%
|-
|[Setswana](/source/Setswana) || align=right| {{nts|40351}} || align=right | 0.87%
|-
|[isiXhosa](/source/isiXhosa) || align=right| {{nts|25340}} || align=right | 0.55%
|-
|[isiZulu](/source/isiZulu) || align=right| {{nts|23797}} || align=right | 0.52%
|-
|[Sesotho](/source/Sesotho) || align=right| {{nts|23230}} || align=right | 0.50%
|-
|[Sign language](/source/Sign_language) || align=right| {{nts|11891}} || align=right | 0.26%
|-
|[isiNdebele](/source/Southern_Ndebele_language) || align=right| {{nts|8225}} || align=right | 0.18%
|-
|[Sepedi](/source/Sepedi) || align=right| {{nts|5642}} || align=right | 0.12%
|-
|[siSwati](/source/siSwati) || align=right| {{nts|4056}} || align=right | 0.09%
|-
|[Tshivenda](/source/Tshivenda) || align=right| {{nts|2847}} || align=right | 0.06%
|-
|[Xitsonga](/source/Xitsonga) || align=right| {{nts|2268}} || 0.05%
|-
|Sign language|| align=right| {{nts|5702}} || align=right | 0.12%
|-
|Not applicable || align=right| {{nts|74043}} || align=right | 1.60%
|-
!'''Total''' || align=right| {{nts|4616401}} || align=right | '''100.0%'''
|}
== Religion ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|+ Religious affiliation of Coloured South Africans (2001 census)[{{cite web |url=https://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2001/primary_tables/RSAPrimary.pdf |title=Table: Census 2001 by province, gender, religion recode (derived) and population group |work=Census 2001 |publisher=Statistics South Africa}}]
!align=left |Religion || Number || Percentage (%)
|-
|align=left | – Christianity|| 3,466,598|| 86.8%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Pentecostal](/source/Pentecostal)/[Charismatic](/source/Charismatic_Movement)/Apostolic churches || 1,082,103|| 27.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Dutch Reformed churches ||475,654|| 11.9%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Anglican Church](/source/Anglican_Church_of_Southern_Africa)|| 358,806|| 9.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholicism_in_South_Africa)|| 352,259|| 8.8%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Methodist Church](/source/Methodist_Church_of_Southern_Africa) || 163,209|| 4.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Congregational churches](/source/Congregationalism) || 158,635 || 4.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Lutheran church](/source/Lutheran_church)es || 118,580 || 3.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – other [Zionist churches](/source/Zionist_churches) || 80,012|| 2.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Baptist church](/source/Baptist_church)es || 44,122 || 1.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Apostolic Faith Mission](/source/Apostolic_Faith_Mission_of_South_Africa) || 27,728 || 0.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Ethiopian-type churches](/source/Christianity_in_Ethiopia)|| 27,264|| 0.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Zion Christian Church](/source/Zion_Christian_Church) || 26,405 || 0.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Presbyterian church](/source/Presbyterian_church)es || 11,032 || 0.3%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Other [Reformed church](/source/Reformed_church)es || 8,407 || 0.2%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [iBandla lamaNazaretha](/source/Nazareth_Baptist_Church) || 5,581 || 0.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – [Orthodox churches](/source/Eastern_Christianity) || 1,182|| 0.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Other [African independent churches](/source/African-initiated_church)|| 38,719|| 1.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Other Christian churches|| 486,900|| 12.2%
|-
|align=left|[Islam](/source/Islam)||296,021||7.4%
|-
|align=left|[Hinduism](/source/Hinduism)||5,328||0.1%
|-
|align=left|[Judaism](/source/Judaism)||1,286||0.0%
|-
|align=left|[African traditional religions](/source/African_traditional_religions)|| 801 ||0.0%
|-
|align=left|Other or undetermined|| 18,318 ||0.5%
|-
|align=left|[No religion](/source/Irreligion)|| 153,254 || 3.8%
|-
|align=left|Refused to answer|| 52,902 ||1.3%
|-
|align=left|Total||3,994,508||100%
|}
==Cuisine==
{{see also|South African cuisine}}
Numerous South African cuisines can be traced back to Coloured people. [Bobotie](/source/Bobotie), [snoek](/source/Thyrsites)-based dishes, [koe'sister](/source/koe'sister)s, [bredies](/source/Tomato_bredie), Malay [roti](/source/roti) and [gatsbies](/source/Gatsby_(sandwich)) are staple diets of Coloureds and other South Africans as well.[{{cite book |last1=Lagardien |first1=Zainab |title=Traditional Cape Malay Cooking |date=2008 |publisher=Struik Publishers |isbn=978-1-77007-671-6 |language=en}}]
== Notable people==
===Politicians===
* [Midi Achmat](/source/Midi_Achmat), South African writer and [LGBT rights activist](/source/LGBT_rights_activist)
* [Zackie Achmat](/source/Zackie_Achmat), South African HIV/AIDS activist and filmmaker
* [Neville Alexander](/source/Neville_Alexander), Political activist, educationalist and lecturer
* [Allan Boesak](/source/Allan_Boesak), Political activist and cleric
* [Lynne Brown](/source/Lynne_Brown), Political activist and politician
* [Patricia de Lille](/source/Patricia_de_Lille), former [PAC](/source/Pan_Africanist_Congress_of_Azania), then [Independent Democrats](/source/Independent_Democrats) leader, then [Democratic Alliance](/source/Democratic_Alliance_(South_Africa)) mayor of [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town), now leader of Good Party
* [Tony Ehrenreich](/source/Tony_Ehrenreich), South African [trades union](/source/trades_union)ist
* [Zainunnisa Gool](/source/Zainunnisa_Gool), South African political activist and representative on the [Cape Town City Council](/source/Cape_Town_City_Council)
* [Ashley Kriel](/source/Ashley_Kriel), anti-Apartheid activist
* [Alex La Guma](/source/Alex_La_Guma), South African novelist and leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation
* [Trevor Manuel](/source/Trevor_Manuel), former Finance Minister and Head of the [National Planning Commission of South Africa](/source/National_Planning_Commission_of_South_Africa)
* [Peter Marais](/source/Peter_Marais), former Unicity Mayor of Cape Town and Former Premier of the Western Cape
* [Gerald Morkel](/source/Gerald_Morkel), former mayor of [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town)
* [Dan Plato](/source/Dan_Plato), Western Cape Community Safety Minister
* [Dulcie September](/source/Dulcie_September), political activist
* [Adam Small](/source/Adam_Small_(writer)), political activist, poet and writer
* [Percy Sonn](/source/Percy_Sonn), former president of the [International Cricket Council](/source/International_Cricket_Council)
* [Simon van der Stel](/source/Simon_van_der_Stel), last commander and first Governor of the [Dutch Cape Colony](/source/Dutch_Cape_Colony)
===Artists and writers===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Peter Abrahams](/source/Peter_Abrahams), writer
* [Tyrone Appollis](/source/Tyrone_Appollis), academic
* [Willie Bester](/source/Willie_Bester)
* [Dennis Brutus](/source/Dennis_Brutus), journalist, poet, activist
* [Peter Clarke](/source/Peter_Clarke_(artist))
* [Phillippa Yaa de Villiers](/source/Phillippa_Yaa_de_Villiers), writer and performance artist
* [Garth Erasmus](/source/Garth_Erasmus), artist
* [Diana Ferrus](/source/Diana_Ferrus), poet, writer and performance artist
* [Bessie Head](/source/Bessie_Head), writer
* [Oliver Hermanus](/source/Oliver_Hermanus), writer, director
* [Rozena Maart](/source/Rozena_Maart), writer
* [Mustafa Maluka](/source/Mustafa_Maluka)
* Dr. [Don Mattera](/source/Don_Mattera)
* [James Matthews](/source/James_Matthews_(writer)), writer
* [Selwyn Milborrow](/source/Selwyn_Milborrow), poet, writer, journalist
* [Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh](/source/Sizwe_Mpofu-Walsh)
* [Arthur Nortje](/source/Arthur_Nortje), poet
* [Robin Rhode](/source/Robin_Rhode)
* [Richard Moore Rive](/source/Richard_Moore_Rive), writer
* [Tracey Rose](/source/Tracey_Rose)
* [Adam Small](/source/Adam_Small_(writer)), writer
* [Zoë Wicomb](/source/Zo%C3%AB_Wicomb), writer
* [Athol Williams](/source/Athol_Williams), poet, writer, scholar, [social philosopher](/source/social_philosopher)
{{Div col end}}
===Actors and actresses===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Quanita Adams](/source/Quanita_Adams), actress
* [Natalie Becker](/source/Natalie_Becker), actress
* [Lesley-Ann Brandt](/source/Lesley-Ann_Brandt), actress
* [Meryl Cassie](/source/Meryl_Cassie), actress
* [Vincent Ebrahim](/source/Vincent_Ebrahim), actor
* [Vinette Ebrahim](/source/Vinette_Ebrahim), actress
* [Kim Engelbrecht](/source/Kim_Engelbrecht), actress
* [Jarrid Geduld](/source/Jarrid_Geduld), actor
* [Shannon Kook](/source/Shannon_Kook), actor
* [Kandyse McClure](/source/Kandyse_McClure), actress
* [Shamilla Miller](/source/Shamilla_Miller), actress
* [Blossom Tainton-Lindquist](/source/Blossom_Tainton-Lindquist)
{{Div col end}}
===Beauty queens===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Tansey Coetzee](/source/Tansey_Coetzee), Miss South Africa 2007
* [Tamaryn Green](/source/Tamaryn_Green), Miss South Africa 2018
* [Amy Kleinhans](/source/Amy_Kleinhans), former Miss South Africa 1992 and first non-white Miss South Africa
* [Liesl Laurie](/source/Liesl_Laurie), Miss South Africa 2015
* [Jo-Ann Strauss](/source/Jo-Ann_Strauss), Miss South Africa 2000, media personality and business woman
{{Div col end}}
===Musicians===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [AKA](/source/AKA_(rapper)), hip-hop recording artist
* [Megan Alatini](/source/Megan_Alatini), South African-born singer, and actress
* [Fallon Bowman](/source/Fallon_Bowman), South African-born guitarist, singer, and actor
* [Jonathan Butler](/source/Jonathan_Butler), [jazz](/source/jazz) musician
* [Blondie Chaplin](/source/Blondie_Chaplin), singer and guitarist for the Beach Boys
* [Paxton Fielies](/source/Paxton_Fielies), singer
* [Jean Grae](/source/Jean_Grae), hip-hop artist
* [Paul Hanmer](/source/Paul_Hanmer), pianist and composer
* [Abdullah Ibrahim](/source/Abdullah_Ibrahim), jazz pianist
* [Robbie Jansen](/source/Robbie_Jansen), musician
* [Trevor Jones](/source/Trevor_Jones_(composer)), South African-born film composer
* [Taliep Petersen](/source/Taliep_Petersen), musician and director
* [YoungstaCPT](/source/YoungstaCPT), rapper
* [Tyla Seethal](/source/Tyla_Seethal), South African-born singer and songwriter
{{Div col end}}
===Others===
* [Marc Lottering](/source/Marc_Lottering), comedian
* [Jenny Powell](/source/Jenny_Powell), television presenter
===Athletics===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Shaun Abrahams](/source/Shaun_Abrahams), 800m runner
* [Cornel Fredericks](/source/Cornel_Fredericks), track-and-field sprinter
* [Paul Gorries](/source/Paul_Gorries), Sprinter
* [Leigh Julius](/source/Leigh_Julius), 2004–08 Olympian
* [Geraldine Pillay](/source/Geraldine_Pillay), 2004 Olympian, Commonwealth medallist
* [Wayde van Niekerk](/source/Wayde_van_Niekerk), track-and-field sprinter, Olympic and World Champion, and World Record Holder
{{Div col end}}
===Cricket===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Paul Adams](/source/Paul_Adams_(cricketer))
* [Ottniel Baartman](/source/Ottniel_Baartman)
* [Vincent Barnes](/source/Vincent_Barnes)
* [Loots Bosman](/source/Loots_Bosman)
* [Henry Davids](/source/Henry_Davids)
* [Basil D'Oliveira](/source/Basil_D'Oliveira)
* [Damian D'Oliveira](/source/Damian_D'Oliveira)
* [JP Duminy](/source/JP_Duminy)
* [Clyde Fortuin](/source/Clyde_Fortuin)
* [Herschelle Gibbs](/source/Herschelle_Gibbs)
* [Beuran Hendricks](/source/Beuran_Hendricks)
* [Reeza Hendricks](/source/Reeza_Hendricks)
* [Omar Henry](/source/Omar_Henry_(cricketer))
* [Garnett Kruger](/source/Garnett_Kruger)
* [Charl Langeveldt](/source/Charl_Langeveldt)
* [Wayne Parnell](/source/Wayne_Parnell)
* [Dane Paterson](/source/Dane_Paterson)
* [Alviro Petersen](/source/Alviro_Petersen)
* [Robin Peterson](/source/Robin_Peterson)
* [Keegan Petersen](/source/Keegan_Petersen)
* [Vernon Philander](/source/Vernon_Philander)
* [Dane Piedt](/source/Dane_Piedt)
* [Ashwell Prince](/source/Ashwell_Prince)
* [Roger Telemachus](/source/Roger_Telemachus)
* [Lizaad Williams](/source/Lizaad_Williams)
{{Div col end}}
===Field hockey===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Clyde Abrahams](/source/Clyde_Abrahams)
* [Liesel Dorothy](/source/Liesel_Dorothy)
* [Ignatius Malgraff](/source/Ignatius_Malgraff)
{{Div col end}}
===Football===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Keegan Allan](/source/Keegan_Allan)
* [Kurt Abrahams](/source/Kurt_Abrahams)
* [Cole Alexander](/source/Cole_Alexander)
* [Oswin Appollis](/source/Oswin_Appollis)
* [Andre Arendse](/source/Andre_Arendse)
* [Tyren Arendse](/source/Tyren_Arendse)
* [Wayne Arendse](/source/Wayne_Arendse)
* [Bradley August](/source/Bradley_August)
* [Brendan Augustine](/source/Brendan_Augustine)
* [Emile Baron](/source/Emile_Baron)
* [Shaun Bartlett](/source/Shaun_Bartlett)
* [Tyrique Bartlett](/source/Tyrique_Bartlett)
* [David Booysen](/source/David_Booysen_(soccer))
* [Mario Booysen](/source/Mario_Booysen)
* [Ethan Brooks](/source/Ethan_Brooks_(soccer))
* [Delron Buckley](/source/Delron_Buckley)
* [Brent Carelse](/source/Brent_Carelse)
* [Daylon Claasen](/source/Daylon_Claasen)
* [Rivaldo Coetzee](/source/Rivaldo_Coetzee)
* [Keanu Cupido](/source/Keanu_Cupido)
* [Clayton Daniels](/source/Clayton_Daniels)
* [Lance Davids](/source/Lance_Davids)
* [Rushine De Reuck](/source/Rushine_De_Reuck)
* [Keagan Dolly](/source/Keagan_Dolly)
* [Kermit Erasmus](/source/Kermit_Erasmus)
* [Jody February](/source/Jody_February)
* [Taariq Fielies](/source/Taariq_Fielies)
* [Quinton Fortune](/source/Quinton_Fortune)
* [Lyle Foster](/source/Lyle_Foster)
* [Bevan Fransman](/source/Bevan_Fransman)
* [Stanton Fredericks](/source/Stanton_Fredericks)
* [Reeve Frosler](/source/Reeve_Frosler)
* [Ruzaigh Gamildien](/source/Ruzaigh_Gamildien)
* [Morgan Gould](/source/Morgan_Gould)
* [Victor Gomes](/source/Victor_Gomes), referee
* [Travis Graham](/source/Travis_Graham)
* [Ashraf Hendricks](/source/Ashraf_Hendricks)
* [Rowan Human](/source/Rowan_Human)
* [Rudi Isaacs](/source/Rudi_Isaacs)
* [Willem Jackson](/source/Willem_Jackson)
* [Moeneeb Josephs](/source/Moeneeb_Josephs)
* [David Kannemeyer](/source/David_Kannemeyer)
* [Ricardo Katza](/source/Ricardo_Katza)
* [Daine Klate](/source/Daine_Klate)
* [Lyle Lakay](/source/Lyle_Lakay)
* [Lee Langeveldt](/source/Lee_Langeveldt)
* [Clinton Larsen](/source/Clinton_Larsen)
* [Luke Le Roux](/source/Luke_Le_Roux)
* [Stanton Lewis](/source/Stanton_Lewis_(soccer%2C_born_1987))
* [Benni McCarthy](/source/Benni_McCarthy), [South Africa national team](/source/South_Africa_national_soccer_team)'s all-time top scorer with 31 goals
* [Fabian McCarthy](/source/Fabian_McCarthy_(South_African_soccer))
* [Leroy Maluka](/source/Leroy_Maluka)
* [Grant Margeman](/source/Grant_Margeman)
* [Bryce Moon](/source/Bryce_Moon)
* [Nasief Morris](/source/Nasief_Morris)
* [Tashreeq Morris](/source/Tashreeq_Morris)
* [James Musa](/source/James_Musa)
* [Andile Ncobo](/source/Andile_Ncobo), referee
* [Morne Nel](/source/Morne_Nel)
* [Andras Nemeth](/source/Andr%C3%A1s_N%C3%A9meth_(footballer))
* [Reagan Noble](/source/Reagan_Noble)
* [Brad Norman](/source/Brad_Norman)
* [Riyaad Norodien](/source/Riyaad_Norodien)
* [Bernard Parker](/source/Bernard_Parker)
* [Genino Palace](/source/Genino_Palace)
* [Peter Petersen](/source/Peter_Petersen_(soccer))
* [Brandon Peterson](/source/Brandon_Peterson_(soccer))
* [Steven Pienaar](/source/Steven_Pienaar)
* [Reyaad Pieterse](/source/Reyaad_Pieterse)
* [Wayne Roberts](/source/Wayne_Roberts_(soccer))
* [Frank Schoeman](/source/Frank_Schoeman)
* [Ebrahim Seedat](/source/Ebrahim_Seedat)
* [Brandon Silent](/source/Brandon_Silent)
* [Elrio van Heerden](/source/Elrio_van_Heerden)
* [Dino Visser](/source/Dino_Visser)
* [Shu-Aib Walters](/source/Shu-Aib_Walters)
* [Mark Williams](/source/Mark_Williams_(South_African_soccer)), scored both goals to win the [1996 African Cup of Nations](/source/1996_African_Cup_of_Nations) final
* [Ronwen Williams](/source/Ronwen_Williams)
* [Robyn Johannes](/source/Robyn_Johannes)
{{Div col end}}
===Rugby===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [Gio Aplon](/source/Gio_Aplon)
* [Nizaam Carr](/source/Nizaam_Carr)
* [Kurt Coleman](/source/Kurt_Coleman_(rugby_union)), Western Province and Stormers player
* [Bolla Conradie](/source/Bolla_Conradie)
* [Juan de Jongh](/source/Juan_de_Jongh)
* [Peter de Villiers](/source/Peter_de_Villiers)
* [Justin Geduld](/source/Justin_Geduld), Springbok 7's
* [Bryan Habana](/source/Bryan_Habana)
* [Cornal Hendricks](/source/Cornal_Hendricks)
* [Adrian Jacobs](/source/Adrian_Jacobs)
* [Conrad Jantjes](/source/Conrad_Jantjes)
* [Elton Jantjies](/source/Elton_Jantjies)
* [Herschel Jantjies](/source/Herschel_Jantjies)
* [Ricky Januarie](/source/Ricky_Januarie)
* [Ashley Johnson](/source/Ashley_Johnson_(rugby_union))
* [Cheslin Kolbe](/source/Cheslin_Kolbe), Western Province and Stormers player
* [Dillyn Leyds](/source/Dillyn_Leyds), Western Province and Stormers player
* [Lionel Mapoe](/source/Lionel_Mapoe)
* [Breyton Paulse](/source/Breyton_Paulse)
* [Earl Rose](/source/Earl_Rose_(rugby_union_player))
* [Tian Schoeman](/source/Tian_Schoeman)
* [Errol Tobias](/source/Errol_Tobias)
* [Jaco van Tonder](/source/Jaco_van_Tonder)
* [Ashwin Willemse](/source/Ashwin_Willemse)
* [Chester Williams](/source/Chester_Williams)
{{Div col end}}
=== Others ===
* [Christopher Gabriel](/source/Christopher_Gabriel) – basketball player
* [Raven Klaasen](/source/Raven_Klaasen) – tennis player
* [Devon Petersen](/source/Devon_Petersen) – darts player
* [Kenny Solomon](/source/Kenny_Solomon) – South Africa's first chess grandmaster
==See also==
{{Portal|South Africa
}}
{{colbegin}}
*[Anglo-Indian](/source/Anglo-Indian)
*[Anglo-Burmese](/source/Anglo-Burmese_people)
*[Arab-Berber](/source/Arab-Berber)
*[Burghers](/source/Burgher_people)
*[Colored](/source/Colored)
*[Culture of South Africa](/source/Culture_of_South_Africa)
*[Free people of color](/source/Free_people_of_color)
*[Half-caste](/source/Half-caste)
*[Indo people](/source/Indo_people)
*[Khoisan revivalism](/source/Khoisan_revivalism)
*[Sandra Laing](/source/Sandra_Laing)
*[Melungeon](/source/Melungeon)
*[Mestizo](/source/Mestizo) ([Mestiço](/source/Mesti%C3%A7o))
*[Métis](/source/M%C3%A9tis)
*[Miscegenation](/source/Miscegenation)
*[Mulatto](/source/Mulatto)
*[One-drop rule](/source/One-drop_rule)
*[Pardo](/source/Pardo)
*[Passing (racial identity)](/source/Passing_(racial_identity))
*[Pencil test](/source/Pencil_test_(South_Africa))
*[Person of color](/source/Person_of_color)
*[VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie)](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company)
{{colend}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* ''Gekonsolideerde Algemene Bibliografie: Die Kleurlinge Van Suid-Afrika'', South Africa Department of Coloured Affairs, Inligtingsafdeling, 1960, 79 p.
* [Mohamed Adhikari](/source/Mohamed_Adhikari), ''Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community'', Ohio University Press, 2005, 252 p. {{ISBN|978-0-89680-244-5}}
* Vernie A. February, ''Mind Your Colour: The "coloured" Stereotype in South African Literature'', Routledge, 1981, 248 p. {{ISBN|978-0-7103-0002-7}}
* R. E. Van der Ross, ''100 Questions about Coloured South Africans'', 1993, 36 p. {{ISBN|978-0-620-17804-4}}
* Philippe Gervais-Lambony, ''La nouvelle Afrique du Sud, problèmes politiques et sociaux'', [la Documentation française](/source/la_Documentation_fran%C3%A7aise), 1998
* François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, ''Histoire de l'Afrique du Sud'', 2006, Seuil
===Novels===
* [Pamela Jooste](/source/Pamela_Jooste), ''Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter'', Doubleday, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-385-40911-7}}
* [Zoë Wicomb](/source/Zo%C3%AB_Wicomb), ''David's Story'', New York, Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2001
* Henry Martin Scholtz, ''A Place Called Vatmaar'', 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-7957-0104-7}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Coloured people}}
{{Ethnic groups in South Africa}}{{Multiethnicity}}{{Authority control}}
Category:Ethnic groups in Namibia
Category:Coloured African people
Category:Multiracial affairs in Africa
Category:European diaspora in Africa
Category:Creole peoples
Category:Person of color
Category:History of the Dutch East India Company
Category:Articles containing video clips
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coloureds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.