South African Chinese
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South African Chinese are a group of overseas Chinese that were born and/or are currently living in South Africa.
The earliest Chinese arrived in South Africa in 1904 to work in the gold mines of the Witwatersrand (now Gauteng). Most of them were repatriated by 1910, because of strong white opposition to their presence. Some stayed, mainly around Johannesburg, and Port Elizabeth, where South Africa's only Chinese township was located. As with other non-white South Africans, the Chinese suffered from discrimination during apartheid, and were classified as coloureds.
With the establishment of ties between apartheid South Africa and the Republic of China (Taiwan), Taiwanese Chinese started migrating to South Africa from the late 1970s onwards. This created an odd situation whereby South African mainland Chinese continued to be classified as coloureds, whereas the Taiwanese were considered "honorary whites". The arrival of the Taiwanese resulted in a surge of the Chinese population, which climbed from around 10,000 in the early 1980s to at least 20,000 in the early 1990s. Many Taiwanese were entrepreneurs who set up small companies, particularly in the textile sector, across South Africa.
With the end of apartheid, more Chinese from mainland China started immigrating into South Africa, increasing the Chinese population in South Africa to possibly 100,000, including illegal immigrants. In Johannesburg, in particular, a new Chinatown has emerged in the eastern suburbs of Cyrildene and Bruma Lake, replacing the declining one in the city centre. A Chinese housing development has also been established in the small town of Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria.
