| Total population |
|---|
| 1 274 867 (2011; estimated)[1] 2.5% of South Africa's population |
| Regions with significant populations |
| KwaZulu-Natal |
| Languages |
|
South African English, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Chinese and Telugu |
| Religion |
|
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and non-religious |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Asian, Desi and British Asian |
The majority of the Asian South African population is Indian in origin, most of them descended from indentured workers transported to work in the 19th century on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the languages of their ancestors. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans (approximately 300,000 individuals), of whom the great majority are recent immigrants of the last two decades.
In total the 1.2 million Asians in South Africa represent about two per cent of the nation's population. Most are of Indian or South Asian origin, although there is also a rapidly increasing number of people of Chinese and other East Asian origin (sometimes classified as Coloured (mixed race) or White under Apartheid). Traditionally the group does not include the "Cape Malays", who were descended (at least in part) from South East Asians, who were classified as "Coloured" under apartheid.
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There are more than 1 million Indians in South Africa, most of whom are descended from indentured labourers who were brought into the country by the British from India in the mid-19th century. They were hired to work in sugar plantations or mines (especially, coal) In the Colony of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). Traders also subsequently immigrated. Indian South Africans form the largest grouping of people of Indian descent born outside India. Since 1994 however, there has been a steady trickle of immigrants from the Indian sub-continent. Most Indian South Africans live in KwaZulu-Natal, particularly in the cities of Durban, Pietermaritzburg and their surrounding areas.
The smaller Chinese community was initially descended from migrant workers who came to work in the gold mines around Johannesburg in the late nineteenth century. Some of those workers were repatriated. Those original descendants are vastly outnumbered by more recent Chinese immigrants, including immigrants from Taiwan, with which apartheid South Africa maintained diplomatic relations. Estimates vary, but the Chinese population is reckoned to have increased from 10,000 in the early 1980s to more than 100,000 in the early 2000s.
Chinese immigration caused difficulties for the apartheid regime. Based on the earlier status of Chinese as indentured laborers, the government classified immigrants from Mainland China as "non-white", and therefore subject to numerous restrictions in residence, voting, education, work, free movement, etc. For separate political reasons, the government had classified Taiwanese, Nationalist Chinese, Japanese and South Koreans, as honorary white, and thus granted the same privileges as whites.[2] In 1984, South African Chinese, now increased to about 10,000, finally obtained the same official rights as the Japanese in South Africa, that is, to be treated as whites in terms of the Group Areas Act except that they could not vote or be conscribed.
In late 2006, the Chinese Association of South Africa filed suit to have Chinese South Africans recognised as having been disadvantaged under apartheid, in order to benefit from Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). Complicating this attempt was the presence of recent immigrant Chinese who had not been disadvantaged by apartheid. They much outnumber native Chinese South Africans. Because Chinese under apartheid had somewhat less rigid restrictions than indigenous blacks, some people argued against their receiving benefits. In addition, the status of Taiwanese, Japanese and South Koreans as honorary whites under apartheid complicated the case. Nonetheless, in June 2008, Chinese South Africans were fully recognized as having been disadvantaged and entered the BEE ethnic groups.[2]
The term Indian is far more commonly used than Asian in South Africa, although examples of both usages can be found.
There is a small community of Koreans in South Africa, numbering 3,480 people; it began to form mostly in the 1990s, and includes expatriates sent by South Korean companies, students of English, and individual entrepreneurs.[3][4]
A number of people from Pakistan have also immigrated to South Africa following the end of apartheid. They often, but not always, live in the same areas as the Indian South Africans.
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