Cape Coloureds

This article is about the ethnic group originating in the Cape. For the broader group of mixed-race people in South Africa, see Coloureds.

Cape Coloureds

Kaapse Kleurlinge (Afrikaans)
Proportion of Coloured South Africans in each municipality according to the census
Total population
5,052,349 (2022 census) 8.15% of South Africa's population
Regions with significant populations
Mainly in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and to a lesser extent in the Eastern Cape
Languages
Majority: Afrikaans Minority: English
Religion
Christian (80%, largely Dutch Reformed, Anglican, Roman Catholic), Muslim (5%, largely Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
Afrikaners, Khoisan, Basters, Oorlam, Griqua people, Cape Malays, Bantu peoples of South Africa, Indian South Africans, Malagasy people

Cape Coloureds (Afrikaans: Kaapse Kleurlinge) are a South African group of multiracial people who are from the Cape region in South Africa which consists of the Western Cape, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between the White, the indigenous Khoi and San, the Xhosa plus other Bantu people, slaves imported from the Dutch East Indies, immigrants from the Levant or Yemen (or a combination of all). People from India and the islands within the Indian Ocean region were also taken to the Cape and sold into slavery by the Dutch settlers. Eventually all these ethnic and racial group intermixed with each forming a group of mixed race people that became the "Cape Coloureds".

Demographics

Although Coloureds represent only 8.15% of people within South Africa, they make up 42.1% of the population in the Western Cape, representing a plurality of the population of the province. (according to the 2022 South African census)

A Coloured man from Cape Town speaking Afrikaans.

They are generally bilingual, speaking Afrikaans and English, though some speak only one of these. Some Cape Coloureds may code switch, speaking a patois of Afrikaans and English called Afrikaaps, also known as Cape Slang (Capy) or Kombuis Afrikaans, meaning Kitchen Afrikaans. Cape Coloureds were classified under apartheid as a subset of the larger Coloured race group.

A genetic clustering of South African Coloured and five source populations. Each vertical bar represents individual.

Recent studies of Cape Coloureds using genetic testing have found ancestry to vary by region. Khoe-San ancestry is higher in inland regions and towards the North into present-day Northern Cape. Although it is prevalent throughout the Cape, the partial Bantu-Speaking ancestry (most predominantly Xhosa) gets higher going Eastwards into present-day Eastern Cape. The European-related ancestry is highest along the coast. In Cape Town and the rest of the Western Cape province, the partial Asian ancestry is high and diverse due to the arrival of Asian & African slaves that mixed with Europeans(colonists/immigrants/tourists) and existing mixed race (Khoisan-European) which formed the modern day Cape Coloureds & Cape Malay due to the creolisation of all those populations. At least 4 genetic studies indicate that the average Cape Coloured has an ancestry consisting of the following, with large variation between individuals :

• Khoisan-speaking Africans : ~ 25,3%
• Bantu-speaking Africans: ~ 15,5%
• Ethnic groups in Europe: ~ 39,3%
• Asian peoples: ~ 19,9%

Below are the approximate ranges for each ancestral component based on genetic studies and historical accounts:

African Ancestry :

Range: ~ 30-68%

Origins: ~ Primarily from Khoe-San, Bantu, Malagasy & to smaller extent West Africa, Sudan & Ethiopia.

European Ancestry :

Range: ~ 20-70%

Origins: ~ Primarily from Dutch, British, French, German, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish & to a smaller extent Polish, Italian, Greek, Scottish, Belgian, Norwegian & Swedish.

Asian Ancestry:

Range: ~ 20-40%

Origins: ~ Primarily from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thai, Vietnam, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Sri Lanka, China, Philippines & to a smaller extent Japan, Korea & Cambodia.

Middle Eastern Ancestry :

Range: ~ 5-15%

Origins: ~ Primarily from Lebanon, Syria, Yemeni, Israel & Egypt to a smaller extent.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and individual results may vary. The ancestry of Cape Coloureds can be diverse and complex.

The genetic reference cluster term "Khoisan" itself refers to a colonially admixed population cluster, hence the concatenation, and is not a straightforward reference to ancient African pastoralist and hunter ancestry, which is often demarcated by the L0 haplogroup ancestry common in the general South African native population, which is also integral part of other aboriginal genetic reference cluster terms like "South-East African Bantu".

Religion

A separate Dutch Reformed Church, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC), was formed in 1881 to serve the Cape Coloured Calvinist population separately from the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK). It was merged in 1994 with the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA, formed 1963) to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa.

Success in the spread of Catholicism among Afrikaans speakers, including Coloured communities, remained minimal until the death throes of Apartheid during the mid to late 1980s. As Catholic texts began to be translated into Afrikaans, sympathetic Dutch Reformed pastors, who were defying the traditional anti-Catholicism of their Church, assisted in correcting linguistic errors. By 1996, the majority of Afrikaans-speaking Catholics came from the Coloured community, with a smaller number of Afrikaner converts, most of whom were from professional backgrounds.

Sunni Islam remains in practice among Cape Malays, who were generally regarded as a separate ethnoreligious group under apartheid.

Origin and history

The first and the largest phase of interracial marriages/Miscegenation in South Africa happened in the Dutch Cape Colony which began from the 17th century, shortly after the arrival of Dutch settlers, who were led by Jan van Riebeeck. When the Dutch settled in the Cape in 1652, they met the Khoi Khoi who were the natives of the area. After settling in the Cape, the Dutch established farms that required intensive labour therefore, they enforced slavery in the Cape. Some of the Khoi Khoi became labourers in the Cape. Despite this, there was resistance by the Khoi Khoi, which led to the Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars. As a result of this resistance, the Dutch imported slaves from other parts of the world, especially the Malay people from present-day Indonesia and the Bantu people from various parts of Southern Africa. To a smaller extent, slaves were also imported from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar, Mauritius and elsewhere in Africa. The slaves were almost invariably given Christian names but their places of origin were indicated in the records of sales and other documents so that it is possible to estimate the ratio of slaves from different regions. Often, slaves were given their masters' surnames, surnames that were of biblical origin (e.g. Adams, Thomas, Jacobs, Matthews, Peters, Daniels) or surnames that reflected the month in which they arrived (e.g. September, March, October, April). These slaves were, however, dispersed and lost their cultural identity over the course of time.

Because most of the Dutch settlers in the Cape were men, many of them married and conceived mixed-race children with the Khoi Khoi, the southern African Bantu, the Malay from Indonesia and other enslaved ethnic groups in the Cape. There was also interracial mixing between the slaves and mixed-race children were also conceived from these unions as well because the slaves were of different races (African and Asian). Unlike the One-drop rule in the USA, mixed-race children in the Cape were not viewed as "white enough to be white", "black enough to be black" nor "asian enough to be asian", therefore, mixed race children from all these interracial unions in the Cape grew up and married amongst themselves, forming their own community that would later be known as the "Cape Coloured".

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 (a Khoi Khoi woman who was a servant, a translator and a crucial negotiator between the Dutch and the Khoi Khoi. Her Dutch name was "Eva Van Meerhof") and Peter Havgard (a Danish surgeon whom the Dutch renamed as "Pieter Van Meerhof"). Having conceived 3 mixed-race children, Krotoa was known as the mother that gave birth to the Coloured community in South Africa.

Eventually, more Dutch people settled in the Cape, amongst them were the Van Wijk family (whose descendants became 'Van Wyk') who arrived in the Cape in 1686 and the Erasmus family that arrived in 1689. The Huguenots (also known as 'French Huguenots') were French Protestants who escaped from the banishment and persecution of Protestants in France during the late 1600s. Many French Huguenots sought refuge in the Dutch Cape Colony and integrated with the Dutch and other ethnic groups there. Although many Huguenots who arrived in the Cape were already married, their children and descendants soon integrated with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Dutch Cape Colony and after a few generations, they spoke Dutch, not French. These French refugees pioneered the vineyards of the Cape Winelands, turning it into one of the biggest wine producers in the world. Due to integration with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape, there are many Afrikaans surnames of French origin e.g. Le Roux, De Villiers, Joubert, Marais, Visagie, Du Plessis, Pienaar, De Klerk(from 'Le Clerc'), Meyer, Fourie, Theron, Cronje, Viljoen(from 'Villion'), Du Toit, Reyneke, Malan, Naude, De Lille, Fouche, Blignaut, Retief, Boshoff, Rossouw, and Louw.

During the 1600s and the 1700s, Germany was the Netherlands' biggest trading partner in Europe and due to their good relations, hundreds of thousands of Germans were recruited by the VOC making Germans the largest foreign Europeans in the Dutch empire. Throughout the Dutch rule, the VOC sent nearly 15 000 Germans to the Dutch Cape Colony to work as officials, sailors, administrators and soldiers. The Germans learnt Dutch and it replaced German. Eventually, Germans in the Cape became farmers, teachers, traders and ministers. Almost all Germans who settled in the Cape throughout the Dutch rule were men and therefore, almost all German men in the Cape married women outside their culture (especially African and Asian women). Due to integration with the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Cape, there are many Afrikaans surnames of German origin e.g. Coetzee (from 'Kotze'), Pretorius, Booysen, Steenkamp, Kruger (from 'Krüger'), Botha, Venter, Cloete, Schoeman, Mulder, Kriel, Breytenbach, Engelbrecht, Potgieter, Maritz, Liebenberg, Fleischman, Weimers, and Schuster. Some few Portuguese people also settled in the Cape and were integrated into the community which is how the Portuguese surname 'Ferreira' ended up being an Afrikaans surname as well.

With the arrival of more Europeans (as mentioned above),the arrival of more African and Asian slaves and the recruitment of more Khoi Khoi labourers in the Cape Colony, there were more interracial unions, whose mixed-race children were absorbed into the Cape Coloured community. The predominant Asian slaves in the Cape were the Malay who came from Indonesia. Although most of them were interracially mixed into the Cape Coloured community, a small minority of them have retained their community and culture, therefore, they became known as the Cape Malay. However, during the Apartheid regime, the Cape Malays were classified as a sub-group of the Cape Coloured due to similar ancestries and because South Africa's population was grouped into four races under the Population Registration Act, 1950: Black, White, Coloured and Indian. Therefore, many Cape Malays were forced to live in Coloured townships of Cape Town during Apartheid.

During the 17th century (in this case, from 1652-1700), the Dutch Cape Colony consisted only of present-day Cape Town with its surrounding areas such as Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. However, from the 18th century until the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the territory of the Cape expanded gradually to the north and east. The expansion of the Dutch Cape Colony was mainly caused by the dry and infertile nature of its immediate interior, therefore farmers needed fertile land because farms could only be settled where there were springs to provide permanent water. However, it was also influenced by emigration of the Trekboers who left the Cape and migrated into the Karoo during the 18th century and after British annexation of the Cape in the 19th century. By the mid-18th century, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached present-day Swellendam and by the end of the Dutch rule (after British annexation in 1814), the territory of the Cape had already reached certain parts of the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape, leading to the arrival of the Afrikaner/Boer with their multiracial slaves in different parts of the Cape. With the gradual expansion of the Cape, the migration of the trekboer, the arrival of the Afrikaner/Boer with their slaves and the additional arrival of various European nationalities, such as the British and Irish, there were more interracial unions, this time between the white and the Khoisans in the Northern Cape and between the white and the Xhosa in the Eastern Cape with more mixed race children being conceived, adding on to the Coloured population of the entire Cape.

Miscegenation in the eastern part of the Cape (which is now the Eastern Cape) dates to the late 1600s which began as a result of the shipwrecks. The Wild Coast Region of the Eastern Cape (which stretches from the provincial border with Natal to East London and Port Alfred) is named after its wilderness and the stormy seas that caused thousands of shipwrecks. Survivors of the shipwrecks (most of whom were Europeans while some were Asians) settled on the Wild Coast. Having no means to return home, most survivors remained permanently in the Eastern Cape and mixed with the Xhosa. Within the same period, many escaped slaves from the Dutch Cape Colony found refuge amongst the Xhosa and assimilated into Xhosa society, and they were soon followed by the Trekboers who were on their way to the Karoo while some of them settled in the Eastern Cape where they mixed with the Xhosa and the Khoi Khoi. The most notorious Trekboer to do so was the Coenraad De Buys who fathered many mixed race children with his many African wives (who were Khoi Khoi and Xhosa) and one of them was Chief Ngqika's mother, Yese, wife of Mlawu kaRarabe. During the last years of Dutch rule, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached the Western portion of the Eastern Cape, especially in the Graaff-Reinet region which led to the arrival of the Boer/Afrikaner with their multiracial slaves. Miscegenation in the Eastern Cape continued during the 1800s until the early 1900s with the arrival of British, Irish and German settlers, many of whom mixed with the Xhosa and eventually multiracial people in the Eastern Cape also became part of the Cape Coloured.

In the Northern region of the Cape(which now the Northern Cape), miscegenation began in the 1700s, shortly after the arrival of the Trekboers that left the Dutch Cape Colony(fleeing from autocratic rule) and many settled in the Karoo while some settled in Namaqualand. Some Trekboers even went as far as the Orange River and beyond to the Southern part of the Kalahari and in all these regions, they met the Khoisans(the San and the Khoi Khoi). As a way of survival in this hot and dry region, the Trekboers adopted the nomadic lifestyle that the Khoisans were living and some even mixed with the Khoisans. During the last years of Dutch rule, the territory of the Dutch Cape Colony had reached the Southern portion of the Northern Cape, leading to the arrival of the Boer/Afrikaner with their multiracial slaves. In the early 1800s, the Griqua people left the Dutch Cape Colony and migrated to the North of the Karoo where they established Griqualand West. Then there was the arrival of the Basters, Oorlams and the Cape Coloured that migrated to the North as well and some of them even went as far as present-day Namibia. In the latter half of the 1800s, large sums of diamonds, Uranium, Copper and Iron ore were discovered in the Northern Cape which attracted many Europeans, many of whom mixed with the San, Khoi khoi, Tswana in the North-East and the Xhosa in the South-East and then multiracial people in the Northern Cape also became part of the Cape Coloured.

After British annexation in 1814, slavery was abolished in the Cape in 1834, which lead to the Great Trek when the Boere left the Cape as Voortrekkers and migrated into the interior of South Africa to form the Boer republics. Most of the freed slaves(who became Cape Coloureds) remained behind. Many freed slaves moved to an area in Cape Town that became known as District Six.

Felix Florez, a Filipino man in kalk Bay in 1863.

Throughout the 1800s(especially after the abolishment of slavery in 1834), the Cape received an influx of refugees, immigrants and indentured labourers from: Britain, Ireland, St Helena, China, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Middle East, West Africa, North Africa and East Africa(many of whom got married and absorbed into the Cape Coloured community). In the 1800s, the Philippines(which was a Spanish colony) went through harsh rebellion against the Spanish colonial rule which led to a large number of Filipinos that left the country and moved to different parts of the world for refuge. In the late 1830s, the first Filipinos to arrive in Cape Town, settled in Kalk Bay where they were fishing for a living and then Kalk Bay became their new home. When word reached home, many more Filipinos flocked to Kalk Bay, and they soon got scattered throughout Cape Town and its surroundings where they eventually got married and integrated into the Cape Coloured community. Many Filipinos that settled in Cape Town were also mixed with partial Spanish ancestry which is why some Cape Coloureds can also trace some of their roots from the Philippines and from Spain, due to the Filipinos of Kalk Bay. Within the Cape Coloured community, surnames that come from the Filipinos of Kalk Bay(which are mostly Spanish surnames given to the Filipinos by the Spaniards) are Pascal, Torrez, De La Cruz, Fernandes, Florez, Manuel, Garcia etc.

In 1888, Oromo slave children from Ethiopia (who were headed for Arabia) were rescued and freed by British troops. In 1890, the British troops brought these freed Oromo slaves to Lovedale Mission in present-day Eastern Cape where many of them became part of the Cape Coloured. The late Dr Neville Alexander's grandmother, Bisho Jarsa, was a freed Oromo slave from Ethiopia.

By the turn of the 20th century, District six became more established and populated. 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, and Japanese) Many of these groups were absorbed into the Cape coloured community. The Cape region(including the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape) also attracted many European immigrants of various nationalities(including Scandinavians[Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland], Portuguese, Greeks, Italians), many of whom married into the Cape Coloured community while some mixed with other ethnic groups, whose children got absorbed into the Cape Coloured community, adding to the ancestry of the Cape Coloureds.

As a result, the Cape Coloureds ended up having the most diverse ancestry in the world with a blend of so many different cultures mixed together.

Cape Coloureds in the media

Cape Coloured school children in Mitchells Plain

Cape Coloured children in Bonteheuwel township (Cape Town, South Africa)

The Christmas Bands are a popular Cape Coloured cultural tradition in Cape Town

A group of Cape Coloureds were interviewed in the documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs. One of the gang members who participated in the interview mentioned that black South Africans have been the main beneficiaries of South African social promotion initiatives while the Cape Coloureds have been further marginalised.

The 2009 film I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured – Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope (Monde World Films, US release) is one of the first historical documentary films to explore the legacy of Apartheid through the viewpoint of the Cape Coloured community, including interviews with elders, pastors, members of Parliament, students and everyday people struggling to find their identity in the new South Africa. The film's 2016 sequel Word of Honour: Reclaiming Mandela’s Promise (Monde World Films, US release)

Various books have covered the subject matter of Coloured identity and heritage.

Patric Tariq Mellet, heritage activist and author of 'The Camissa Embrace' and co-creator of The Camissa Museum, has composed a vast online blog archive ('Camissa People') of heritage information concerning Coloured ancestry tracing to the Indigenous San and Khoe and Malagasy, East African, Indonesian, Indian, Bengal and Sri Lankan slaves.

Terminology

The term "coloureds" is currently treated as a neutral description in Southern Africa, classifying people of mixed race ancestry. "Coloured" may be seen as offensive in some other western countries, such as Britain and the United States of America.

The most used racial slurs against Cape Coloureds are Hottentot or hotnot and Kaffir. The term "hotnot" is a derogatory term used to refer to Khoisan people and coloureds in South Africa. The term originated from the Dutch language, where "Hottentot" was used to describe a language spoken by the Khoisan people. It later came to be used as a derogatory term for the people themselves, based on European perceptions of their physical appearance and culture. The term is often used to demean and dehumanize Khoisan and coloured people, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and discrimination against them. The term "Kaffir" is a racial slur used to refer to coloured people and black people in South Africa. It originated from Arabic and was used to refer to non-Muslims. Later, it was used by European-descended South Africans to refer to black and coloured people during the apartheid era, and the term became associated with racism and oppression. While it is still used against Coloured people, it is not as prevalent as it is against black people.

People

Politicians

• Midi Achmat, South African writer and LGBT rights activist
• Zackie Achmat, South African HIV/AIDS activist and filmmaker
• Neville Alexander, Political activist, educationalist and lecturer.
• Allan Boesak (Political activist & Cleric).
• Patricia de Lille, former PAC, then Independent Democrats leader, then Democratic Alliance mayor of Cape Town, now leader of Good Party
• Tony Ehrenreich, South African trades unionist.
• Zainunnisa Gool, South African Political activist and representative on the Cape Town City Council.
• Alex La Guma, South African novelist and leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation.
• Trevor Manuel, former Finance Minister, currently Head of the National Planning Commission of South Africa.
• Peter Marais, former Unicity Mayor of Cape Town and Former Premier of the Western Cape
• Gerald Morkel, former mayor of Cape Town
• Dan Plato, Western Cape Community Safety Minister.
• Dulcie September, political activist.
• Adam Small, political activist, poet and writer.
• Percy Sonn, former president of the International Cricket Council.
• Simon van der Stel, last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony.

Artists and writers

• Peter Abrahams, writer
• Tyrone Appollis, academic
• Willie Bester
• Dennis Brutus, journalist, poet, activist
• Peter Clarke
• Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, writer and performance artist
• Garth Erasmus, artist
• Diana Ferrus, poet, writer and performance artist
• Oliver Hermanus, writer, director
• Rozena Maart, writer
• Mustafa Maluka
• Dr. Don Mattera
• James Matthews, writer
• Selwyn Milborrow, poet, writer, journalist
• Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh
• Arthur Nortje, poet
• Robin Rhode
• Richard Moore Rive, writer
• Tracey Rose
• Adam Small, writer
• Zoë Wicomb, writer
• Athol Williams, poet, writer, scholar, social philosopher

Actors and actresses

• Quanita Adams, actress
• Natalie Becker, actress
• Lesley-Ann Brandt, actress
• Meryl Cassie, actress
• Vincent Ebrahim, actor
• Vinette Ebrahim, actress
• Kim Engelbrecht, actress
• Jarrid Geduld, actor
• Shannon Kook, actor
• Kandyse McClure, actress
• Shamilla Miller, actress
• Blossom Tainton-Lindquist

Beauty queens

• Tansey Coetzee, Miss South Africa 2007
• Tamaryn Green, Miss South Africa 2018
• Amy Kleinhans, former Miss South Africa 1992 and first non-white Miss South Africa.
• Liesl Laurie, Miss South Africa 2015
• Jo-Ann Strauss, Miss South Africa 2000, media personality and business woman.

Musicians

• AKA, hip-hop recording artist
• Fallon Bowman, South African-born guitarist, singer, and actor.
• Jonathan Butler, jazz musician.
• Blondie Chaplin, singer and guitarist for the Beach Boys.
• Paxton Fielies, singer
• Jean Grae, hip-hop artist.
• Paul Hanmer, pianist and composer
• Abdullah Ibrahim, jazz pianist
• Robbie Jansen, musician
• Trevor Jones, South African-born film composer.
• Taliep Petersen, musician and director
• YoungstaCPT, rapper
• Tyla Seethal, South African-born singer and songwriter

Others

• Marc Lottering, comedian
• Jenny Powell, television presenter.

Athletics

• Shaun Abrahams, 800m runner
• Cornel Fredericks, track-and-field sprinter
• Paul Gorries, Sprinter
• Leigh Julius, 2004–08 Olympian
• Geraldine Pillay, 2004 Olympian, Commonwealth medallist
• Wayde van Niekerk, track-and-field sprinter, Olympic and World Champion, and World Record Holder

Cricket

• Paul Adams
• Vincent Barnes
• Loots Bosman
• Henry Davids
• Basil D'Oliveira
• Damian D'Oliveira
• JP Duminy
• Herschelle Gibbs
• Beuran Hendricks
• Reeza Hendricks
• Omar Henry
• Garnett Kruger
• Charl Langeveldt
• Wayne Parnell
• Alviro Petersen
• Robin Peterson
• Keegan Petersen
• Vernon Philander
• Dane Piedt
• Ashwell Prince
• Roger Telemachus
• Clyde Fortuin

Field hockey

• Clyde Abrahams
• Liesel Dorothy
• Ignatius Malgraff

Football

• Keegan Allan
• Kurt Abrahams
• Cole Alexander
• Oswin Appollis
• Andre Arendse
• Tyren Arendse
• Wayne Arendse
• Bradley August
• Brendan Augustine
• Emile Baron
• Shaun Bartlett
• Tyrique Bartlett
• David Booysen
• Mario Booysen
• Ethan Brooks
• Delron Buckley
• Brent Carelse
• Daylon Claasen
• Rivaldo Coetzee
• Keanu Cupido
• Clayton Daniels
• Lance Davids
• Rushine De Reuck
• Keagan Dolly
• Kermit Erasmus
• Jody February
• Taariq Fielies
• Quinton Fortune
• Lyle Foster
• Bevan Fransman
• Stanton Fredericks
• Reeve Frosler
• Ruzaigh Gamildien
• Morgan Gould
• Victor Gomes, referee
• Travis Graham
• Ashraf Hendricks
• Rowan Human
• Rudi Isaacs
• Willem Jackson
• Moeneeb Josephs
• David Kannemeyer
• Ricardo Katza
• Daine Klate
• Lyle Lakay
• Lee Langeveldt
• Clinton Larsen
• Luke Le Roux
• Stanton Lewis
• Benni McCarthy, South Africa national team's all-time top scorer with 31 goals
• Fabian McCarthy
• Leroy Maluka
• Grant Margeman
• Bryce Moon
• Nasief Morris
• Tashreeq Morris
• James Musa
• Andile Ncobo, referee
• Morne Nel
• Andras Nemeth
• Reagan Noble
• Brad Norman
• Riyaad Norodien
• Bernard Parker
• Genino Palace
• Peter Petersen
• Brandon Peterson
• Steven Pienaar
• Reyaad Pieterse
• Wayne Roberts
• Frank Schoeman
• Ebrahim Seedat
• Brandon Silent
• Elrio van Heerden
• Dino Visser
• Shu-Aib Walters
• Mark Williams, scored both goals to win the 1996 African Cup of Nations final
• Ronwen Williams
• Robyn Johannes

Rugby

• Gio Aplon
• Nizaam Carr
• Kurt Coleman, Western Province and Stormers player
• Bolla Conradie
• Juan de Jongh
• Peter de Villiers
• Justin Geduld, Sprinbok 7's
• Bryan Habana
• Cornal Hendricks
• Adrian Jacobs
• Conrad Jantjes
• Elton Jantjies
• Herschel Jantjies
• Ricky Januarie
• Ashley Johnson
• Cheslin Kolbe, Western Province and Stormers player
• Dillyn Leyds, Western Province and Stormers player
• Lionel Mapoe
• Breyton Paulse
• Earl Rose
• Tian Schoeman
• Errol Tobias
• Jaco van Tonder
• Ashwin Willemse
• Chester Williams

Others

• Christopher Gabriel – basketball player
• Raven Klaasen – tennis player
• Devon Petersen – darts player
• Kenny Solomon – South Africa's first chess grandmaster

See also

• Cape Corps
• District Six
• Kaapse Klopse

External links

• Adhikari, Mohamed (2005). Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-442-5.
• Boggenpoel, Jesmane (2018). My Blood Divides and Unites: Race, Identity, Reconciliation. Porcupine Press. ISBN 978-1-928455-28-8.
• Richards, Ruben Robert (2018). Bastaards Or Humans: The Unspoken Heritage of Coloured People. Indaba. ISBN 978-1-947599-06-2.
• Van Wyk, Chris (2006). Shirley, Goodness & Mercy: A Childhood in Africa. Picador. ISBN 978-0-330-44483-5.