Ethnic groups in South Africa

The majority population of South Africa are those that classify themselves indigenous Black South Africans, Africans or Black people of South Africa, but they are not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. The major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi (North Sotho), Batswana, South Ndebele, Basotho (South Sotho), Venda, Tsonga, and Swazi, all of which predominantly speak Southern Bantu languages.

Black South Africans ethnicities' native distribution is also found across countries neigbouring South Africa. The Basotho are the majority ethnic group of Lesotho. The Batswana ethnic group constitute the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi ethnic group is the majority ethnic group in Swaziland. The Tsonga ethnic group is also found in southern Mozambique, they are also known as the Shangaan (Shangana, Shangane or Shangani).

The Coloured population is mainly concentrated in the Cape region, and come from a combination of ethnic backgrounds including Indigenous South Africans, Whites, Griqua and Asians.[9]

It is important to denote that this ethnicity is not by default to people of multiracial heritage in South Africa, therefore many multiracial South Africans do identify by any ethnic heritage they may be from i.e. Africans, Whites, Asians etc., in the same matter, some people with little or no multiracial heritage do identify as a Coloured ethnic. However, during Apartheid this ethnicity was by law anyone who is of multiracial heritage or determined to be Coloured by the government. This ethnicity doesn't necessarily have an ethnic language nor of specific race but they are contemporarily South African cultured and rather stem their traditional and historical identity from the sense of community of Coloured people, e.g. Cape Coloureds. They are not all culturally or linguistically homogeneous but many from those who identify as Coloured usually speak Afrikaans as a first language.

In detail, Coloureds descend from indigenous African people (South African Bantu-speaking peoples, South African Khoisan (mostly those who lived in the Cape Peninsula) and Africans not of South African descent), Griqua multiracials, European groups (mainly Dutch and British) and Asian groups (Javanese, Malay, Indian, Malagasy and other concerned Asian ethnicities) mainly of slaves brought in South Africa.

Khoisan refers to two separate groups. The Khoikhoi, who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and extensively integrated into the colonial economy, many converting early to Christianity; the San people, called Bushmen by the Europeans, were hunter-gatherers. The Khoisan groups as a minority completes the rest of the indigenous South African population and it is also found that others do not classify themselves as Black South African, African or even Black African. In the 2011 census for example, the overwhelming majority of the San community in Platfontein originating from the northern parts of Namibia and southern Angola opted to be classified as 'Other' and many from those claiming to be descendants of Namaqualand Khoikhoi classify themselves as Coloured.[6]

Within the Coloured community, more recent immigrants will also be found i.e. Coloureds from the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); Namibia and immigrants of mixed descent from India (such as Anglo-Indians) who were welcomed to the Cape when India and Burma received their Independence.

In 2008, the Pretoria High Court has ruled that Chinese South Africans who arrived before 1994 are to be reclassified as Coloureds. As a result of this ruling, about 12,000–15,000[10] ethnically Chinese citizens who arrived before 1994, numbering 3%–5% of the total Chinese population in the country, will be able to benefit from government BEE policies.[11]

Ethnic groups, 2001–2011 (Numbers are millions of people; horizontal scale is percentage of total population).

Europeans in South Africa are predominantly descendants of Dutch, German, French Huguenots, English and other European settlers.[9][12] Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into Boers, who speak Afrikaans, and English-speaking groups. The white population has been on the decrease due to a low birth rate, emigration and as a factor in their decision to emigrate, many cite the high crime rate and the discriminatory affirmative action policies of the government.[13][14] Since 1994, approximately 400,000 whites have permanently emigrated.[4] Despite high emigration levels, immigrants from Europe have settled in the country. By 2005, an estimated 212,000 British citizens were residing in South Africa. By 2011, this number may have grown to 500,000.[15] Some European Zimbabweans emigrated to South Africa. Some of the more nostalgic members of the community are known in popular culture as "Whenwes", because of their nostalgia for their lives in Rhodesia "when we were in Rhodesia".[16]

Despite high emigration levels, a high level of non-South African white immigrants have settled in the country, in particular from countries such as Britain and Zimbabwe. For example, by 2005, an estimated 212,000 British citizens were residing in South Africa. Since 2003, the numbers of British migrants coming to South Africa has risen by 50%. An estimated 20,000 British migrants moved to South Africa in 2007. There have also been a significant number of White Zimbabwean arrivals, fleeing their home country in light of the economic and political problems currently facing the country.

There have been other white immigration waves to South Africa in recent decades. In the 1970s, many Portuguese residents of African colonies such as Angola and Mozambique came to live in South Africa after the independence of those nations. In addition, the apartheid government encouraged Central European immigration in the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly from Poland and Hungary.

The major part of the South African Asian population are descendants from India (see Indian South Africans); many of them descended from indentured workers brought in the nineteenth century to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known as Natal. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans (approximately over 300,000 individuals) and Vietnamese South Africans (approximately 50,000 individuals). Asian South African extends to those of Japanese, Korean, Pakistani and many other South Africans of Asian descent.

The majority of the Indian population came to South Africa as indentured labourers to work in the sugar plantations in Natal in the late 19th and early 20th century.[9] They came from different parts of the Indian subcontinent, adhered to different religions and spoke different languages.[9] Others however came independently for work purposes and business interests.