White South Africans

{{Short description|South African citizens of White European ancestry}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Use South African English|date=May 2012}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = White South Africans

| native_name = Wit Suid-Afrikaners (Afrikaans)

| image = South_Africa_2011_White_population_proportion_map.svg

| caption = Proportion of White South Africans in each municipality according to the census

| pop = 4,504,252 (2022 census){{Cite web |date=10 October 2023 |title=Census 2022: Statistical Release |url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |access-date=12 October 2023 |website=statssa.gov.za |page=6}}
7.3% of South African population

| regions = Throughout South Africa, but mostly concentrated in urban areas. Population by provinces, as of the 2022 census:

| region1 = Gauteng

| pop1 = 1,509,800

| region2 = Western Cape

| pop2 = 1,217,807

| region3 = KwaZulu-Natal

| pop3 = 513,377

| region4 = Eastern Cape

| pop4 = 403,061

| region5 = Free State

| pop5 = 235,915

| region6 = Mpumalanga

| pop6 = 185,731

| region7 = North West

| pop7 = 171,887

| region8 = Limpopo

| pop8 = 167,524

| region9 = Northern Cape

| pop9 = 99,150

| region10 =

| pop10 =

| languages = Majority: Afrikaans{{·}}English
Minority: German{{·}}Italian{{·}}Portuguese{{cn|date=January 2025}}

| religions = Christianity
Atheism

| related_groups = White Zimbabweans, White Namibians, Afrikaners, French Huguenots, Germans, Coloureds, British diaspora in Africa, South African diaspora, other White Africans

}}

White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afrikaners, and the Anglophone descendants of predominantly British colonists of South Africa. In 2016, 57.9% were native Afrikaans speakers, 40.2% were native English speakers, and 1.9% spoke another language as their mother tongue,{{Cite web|url=https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog/611|title=South Africa – Community Survey 2016|website=www.datafirst.uct.ac.za|access-date=25 November 2018}} such as Portuguese, Greek, or German. White South Africans are by far the largest population of White Africans. White was a legally defined racial classification during apartheid.{{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=8 November 2006 |journal=Transformation|issn=0258-7696 |year=2001|last=Posel|first= Deborah|pages= 50–74}}

The majority of Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking White South Africans trace their ancestry to the 17th and 18th-century Dutch colonists or the 1820 British colonists. Other colonists included Huguenots who emigrated from France, and Walloons who emigrated from present-day Belgium. The remainder of the White South African population consists of later immigrants from Lebanon, and Europe such as Greeks and Norwegians. Portuguese immigrants arrived after the collapse of the Portuguese colonial administrations in Angola and Mozambique, although many also originate from Madeira.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World|page=1707|isbn=9781135205157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=We-OAQAAQBAJ&dq=white+south+africans+jews+greeks+portuguese&pg=PA1707|last1=Leonard |first1=Thomas M. |date=18 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge }}{{cite book|title=The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia|page=242|isbn=9781483346472 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ihdCwAAQBAJ&dq=white+south+africans+jews+greeks+portuguese+dutch+british&pg=PA242|last1=Gertz |first1=Genie |last2=Boudreault |first2=Patrick |date=5 January 2016 |publisher=SAGE Publications }}{{cite book|title=Community and Conscience: The Jews in Apartheid South Africa| isbn=9781584653295 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRkpQAmnL8oC&dq=white+south+africans+jews+greeks+portuguese&pg=PA268| last1=Shimoni | first1=Gideon | year=2003 }}

History

{{See also|History of South Africa|Slavery in South Africa|Inboekstelsel|Racism in South Africa}}

Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore Southern Africa (the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Agulhas) in 1488.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094918.amp|title=South Africa profile - Timeline - BBC News|date=9 July 2011 }}

File:Cape_Colony00.jpg (now Western Cape) in 1809.]]

The history of white settlement in South Africa started in 1652 with the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) under Jan van Riebeeck.{{cite book|last=Hunt|first=John|editor-last=Campbell|editor-first=Heather-Ann|title=Dutch South Africa: Early Settlers at the Cape, 1652–1708|date=2005|pages=13–35|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1904744955}} Despite the preponderance of officials and colonists from the Netherlands, there were also a number of French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution at home and German soldiers or sailors returning from service in Asia.{{cite book|last=Keegan|first=Timothy|title=Colonial South Africa and the Origins of the Racial Order|year=1996|url=https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg|url-access=registration|edition=1996|pages=[https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg/page/15 15–37]|publisher=David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd|isbn=978-0813917351}} The Cape Colony remained under Dutch rule for two more centuries, after which it was annexed by the United Kingdom around 1806.{{cite book|last=Lloyd|first=Trevor Owen|title=The British Empire, 1558–1995|date=1997|pages=201–203|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0198731337}} At that time, South Africa was home to about 26,000 people of European ancestry, a relative majority of whom were still of Dutch origin. However, the Dutch settlers grew into conflict with the British government over the abolition of the Cape Colony slave trade and limits on colonial expansion into African lands. In order to prevent a frontier war, the British Parliament decided to send British settlers to start farms on the eastern frontier.{{Cite book|last=Clark|first=Nancy L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/883649263|title=South Africa: The Rise and Fall of Apartheid|publisher=Routledge|others=William H. Worger|year=2016|isbn=978-1-138-12444-8|edition=3|location=Abingdon, Oxon|language=English|oclc=883649263}} Beginning in 1818 thousands of British settlers arrived in the growing Cape Colony, intending to join the local workforce or settle directly on the frontier. Ironically most of the farms failed due to the difficult terrain, forcing the British settlers to encroach on African land in order to practise pastoralism. About a fifth of the Cape's original Dutch-speaking white population migrated eastwards during the Great Trek in the 1830s and established their own autonomous Boer republics further inland.{{cite book|last= Greaves|first=Adrian|title=The Tribe that Washed its Spears: The Zulus at War|date=2 September 2014|location=Barnsley|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|edition=2013|pages= 36–55|isbn=978-1629145136}} Nevertheless, the population of white ancestry (mostly European origin) continued increasing in the Cape as a result of settlement, and by 1865 had reached 181,592 people.{{cite book|title=Census of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 1865|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.l0074071051;view=1up;seq=7|publisher=HathiTrust Digital Library|date=1866|access-date=24 September 2017|page=11}} Between 1880 and 1910, there was an influx of Jews (mainly via Lithuania) and immigrants from Lebanon and Syria arriving in South Africa. Recent immigrants from the Levant region of Western Asia were originally classified as Asian, and thus "non-white", but, in order to have the right to purchase land, they successfully argued that they were "white". The main reason being that they were Caucasian and from the lands where Christianity and Judaism originated from, and that the race laws did not target Jews, who were also a Semitic people. Therefore arguing that if the laws targeted other people from the Levant, it should also affect the Jews.{{cite book|last=Shimoni|first=Gideon|title=Community and Conscience: The Jews in Apartheid South Africa|date=2003|pages=1–4|publisher=University Press of New England|location=Lebanon, New Hampshire|isbn=978-1584653295}}{{cite web|title=The Struggle Of The Christian Lebanese For Land Ownership In South Africa|website=Maronite Institute|url=http://maroniteinstitute.org/MARI/JMS/july00/The_Struggle.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512161002/http://maroniteinstitute.org/MARI/JMS/july00/The_Struggle.htm|archive-date=12 May 2015}}

File:Afrikaner Commandos2.JPG guerrillas during the Second Boer War]]

The first nationwide census in South Africa was held in 1911 and indicated a white population of 1,276,242. By 1936, there were an estimated 2,003,857 white South Africans, and by 1946 the number had reached 2,372,690. The country began receiving tens of thousands of European immigrants, namely from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, and the territories of the Portuguese Empire during the mid- to late twentieth century.{{cite book|last1=Kriger|first1=Robert|last2=Kriger|first2=Ethel|title=Afrikaans Literature: Recollection, Redefinition, Restitution|date=1997|pages=75–78|publisher=Rodopi BV|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-9042000513}} South Africa's white population increased to over 3,408,000 by 1965, reached 4,050,000 in 1973, and peaked at 5,244,000 in 1994-95.{{cite web|title=Population of South Africa by population group|author=|url=http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/abstract04/Population.pdfl|location=Dammam

|publisher=South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries|year=2004|access-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050228135335/http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/abstract04/Population.pdf|archive-date=28 February 2005}}

File:Density of European Population in South Africa 1922.jpg

The number of white South Africans resident in their home country began gradually declining between 1990 and the mid-2000s as a result of increased emigration.

=Apartheid era=

{{See also|Population Registration Act, 1950}}

Under the Population Registration Act of 1950, each inhabitant of South Africa was classified into one of several different race groups, of which White was one. The Office for Race Classification defined a white person as one who "in appearance obviously is, or who is generally accepted as a white person, but does not include a person who, although in appearance obviously a white person, is generally accepted as a coloured person." Many criteria, both physical (e.g. examination of head and body hair) and social (e.g. eating and drinking habits, a native speaker of English, Afrikaans or another European language) were used when the board decided to classify someone as white or coloured. The Act was repealed on 17 June 1991.

=Post-apartheid era=

Black Economic Empowerment legislation further empowers blacks as the government considers ownership, employment, training and social responsibility initiatives, which empower black South Africans, as important criteria when awarding tenders; private enterprises also must adhere to this legislation.{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70714|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810232559/http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70714|archive-date=10 August 2010|title=Redirecting old link|access-date=18 March 2015}} Some reports indicate a growing number of whites in poverty compared to the pre-apartheid years and attribute this to such laws – a 2006 article in The Guardian stated that over 350,000 Afrikaners may be classified as poor, and alluded to research claiming that up to 150,000 were struggling for survival.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/22/southafrica.features|title=Simon Wood meets the people who lost most when Mandela won in South Africa|work=The Guardian|date=22 January 2006|access-date=18 March 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/s1655159.htm|title=Foreign Correspondent – 30/05/2006: South Africa – Poor Whites|publisher=ABC|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205033500/http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/s1655159.htm|archive-date=5 December 2007|url-status=dead}}

As a consequence of Apartheid policies, Whites are still widely regarded as being one of 4 defined race groups in South Africa. These groups (blacks, whites, Coloureds and Indians) still tend to have strong racial identities, and to identify themselves, and others, as members of these race groups{{cite book|last1=Pillay|first1=Kathryn|title=The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity|chapter=Indian Identity in South Africa|year=2019|pages=77–92|doi=10.1007/978-981-13-2898-5_9|isbn=978-981-13-2897-8|s2cid=239275825 }} and the classification continues to persist in government policy due to attempts at redress like Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity.

=Diaspora and emigration=

{{see also|Economy of South Africa#Knowledge|l1=Brain drain of South Africa}}

Since the 1990s, there has been a significant emigration of whites from South Africa. Between 1995 and 2005, more than one million South Africans emigrated, citing violence as the main reason, as well as the lack of employment opportunities for whites.{{cite web|title=Million whites leave SA – study|url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2003186|publisher=24.com|access-date=5 June 2013|author=Peet van Aardt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416135445/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2003186|archive-date=16 April 2008|date=24 September 2006}}

Demographics

{{See also|Distribution of white South Africans}}

class="wikitable" style="float: right;"
colspan="8" |White South Africans 1904-2022
Year

! Population

! % of
South Africa

|19041,116,805 {{steady}}{{steady}} 21.58%
|19211,519,488 {{increase}}{{increase}} 21.93%
|19362,003,857 {{increase}}{{decrease}} 20.90%
|19603,088,492 {{increase}}{{decrease}} 19.30%
|19703,792,848 {{increase}}{{decrease}} 16.86%
|19955,224,000 {{increase}}{{decrease}} 12.70%
|19964,434,697 {{decrease}}{{decrease}} 11.00%
|20014,293,640 {{decrease}}{{decrease}} 9.60%
|20114,586,838 {{increase}}{{decrease}} 8.90%
|20224,504,252 {{decrease}}{{decrease}} 7.30%
colspan="8" style="text-align:left;" |Source: South African census{{Cite web |date=10 October 2023 |title=Census 2022: Statistical Release |url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |access-date=12 October 2023 |website=statssa.gov.za |page=6}}

[[File:South Africa 2011 White population proportion map.svg|thumb|left|White South Africans as a proportion of the total population

{{legend-col

|{{legend|#EDF8E9|0–20%}}

|{{legend|#BAE4B3|20–40%}}

|{{legend|#74C476|40–60%}}

|{{legend|#31A354|60–80%}}

|{{legend|#006D2C|80–100%}}

}}]]

{{bar box

|title=White South Africans by their native tongueSouth African national census 2011

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Language

|right1=Percent

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|Afrikaans |red|61}}

{{bar percent|English|blue|36}}

}}

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right under

| caption = Racial groups South Africa (2022)

| label1 = Black African

| value1 = 81.4

| color1 = Red

| label2 = Coloured

| value2 = 8.2

| color2 = Blue

| label3 = White

| value3 = 7.3

| color3 = Purple

| label4 = Indian

| value4 = 2.7

| color4 = Yellow

|label5=Other|value5=0.4|color5=White}}

According to the 2022 South African census, white South Africans make 7.3% of South Africa's population.https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf The province with the highest percentage of white population is Western Cape at 16.4%, while the white population is below 5% in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West.https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/2022/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf

The Statistics South Africa Census 2011 showed that there were about 4,586,838 white people in South Africa, amounting to 8.9% of the country's population.{{cite web|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/Census2011/Products/Census_2011_Fact_sheet.pdf |title=Census 2011 |date=30 October 2012 |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=30 October 2012 |page=3 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} This was a 6.8% increase since the 2001 census. According to the Census 2011, Afrikaans was the first language of 61% of White South Africans, while English was the first language of 36%. The majority of white South Africans identify themselves as primarily South African, regardless of their first language or ancestry.{{cite web|last=Alexander|first=Mary|title=Black, white – or South African?|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/identity-300606.htm#.UcqyRjs3Cz4|date=30 June 2006|publisher=SAinfo|access-date=26 June 2013|quote=With 82% defining themselves as 'South African', whites identify with the country the most, followed by coloureds and Indians. Five percent of whites consider themselves to be Africans, while 4% identify themselves according to race and 2% according to language or ethnicity.|archive-date=24 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724225617/http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/identity-300606.htm#.UcqyRjs3Cz4|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=A Nation in the Making: A Discussion Document on Macro-Social Trends in South Africa|url=http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2006/socioreport.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711171013/http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2006/socioreport.pdf|archive-date=11 July 2006|year=2006|publisher=Government of South Africa|access-date=26 June 2013}}

=Religion=

{{Bar box

|title=Religion among White South Africans

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Religion

|right1=Percent

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|Christianity |red|87}}

{{bar percent|Irreligious|grey|9}}

{{bar percent|Other|yellow|3}}

{{bar percent|Judaism|blue|1}}

}}

Approximately 87% of white South Africans are Christian, 9% are irreligious, and 1% are Jewish. The largest Christian denomination is the Dutch Reformed Church (NGK), with 23% of the white population being members. Other significant denominations are the Methodist Church (8%), the Roman Catholic Church (7%), and the Anglican Church (6%).{{cite web|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/timeseriesdata/pxweb2006/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=Religion%20by%20province&ti=Table%3A+Census+2001+by+province%2C+gender%2C+religion+recode+%28derived%29+and++population+group.+&path=../Database/South%20Africa/Population%20Census/Census%202001%20-%20Demarcation%20boundaries%20as%20at%2010%20October%202001/Provincial%20level%20-%20Persons/&lang=1 |title=Table: Census 2001 by province, gender, religion recode (derived) and population group. |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=19 January 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2017}}{{cbignore}}

=Migrations=

Meanwhile, many white South Africans have also emigrated to Western countries over the past two decades, mainly to English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. However, the financial crisis has slowed the rate of emigration and in May 2014, the Homecoming Revolution estimated that around 340,000 white South Africans had returned in the preceding decade.

=Distribution=

[[File:South Africa 2011 White population density map.svg|thumb|right|Density of the White South African population.

{{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}}

}}]]

File:South Africa 2001 linguistic distribution of white people map.svg

According to Statistics South Africa, white South Africans comprised 7.7% of the total population of South Africa in 2022. Their proportional share in municipalities may be higher than census figures indicate, given an undercount in the 2001 census.{{cite news|publisher=Pretoria News|title=Where have all the whites gone?|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/where-have-all-the-whites-gone-255549|date=8 October 2005|access-date=25 March 2010}}

The following table shows the distribution of white people by province, according to the 2011 census:{{cite book|title=Census 2011: Census in brief|publisher=Statistics South Africa|location=Pretoria|year=2012|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf|isbn=9780621413885|page=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513171240/http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=live}}

class="wikitable sortable"
Province

!White pop. (2001)

!White pop. (2011)

!White pop. (2022)

!% province (2001)

!% province (2011)

!% province (2022)

!change 2001–2011

!change 2011–2022

!% total whites (2011)

!% total whites (2022)

Eastern Cape

|align=right|305,837

|align=right|310,450

|align=right|403,061

|align=right|4.9

|align=right|4.7

|align=right|5.6

|align=right

0.2 {{decrease}}

|align=right|+0.9 {{increase}}

|align=right|6.8

|align=right|8.9

Free State

|align=right|238,789

|align=right|239,026

|align=right|235,915

|align=right|8.8

|align=right|8.7

|align=right|8.0

|align=right

0.1 {{decrease}}

|align=right

0.7 {{decrease}}

|align=right|5.2

|align=right|5.2

Gauteng

|align=right|1,768,041

|align=right|1,913,884

|align=right|1,509,800

|align=right|18.8

|align=right|15.6

|align=right|10.0

|align=right

3.2 {{decrease}}

|align=right

5.6 {{decrease}}

|align=right|41.7

|align=right|33.5

KwaZulu-Natal

|align=right|482,115

|align=right|428,842

|align=right|513,377

|align=right|5.0

|align=right|4.2

|align=right|4.1

|align=right

0.8 {{decrease}}

|align=right

0.1 {{decrease}}

|align=right|9.3

|align=right|11.4

Limpopo

|align=right|132,420

|align=right|139,359

|align=right|167,524

|align=right|2.7

|align=right|2.6

|align=right|2.5

|align=right

0.1 {{decrease}}

|align=right

0.1 {{decrease}}

|align=right|3.0

|align=right|3.7

Mpumalanga

|align=right|197,079

|align=right|303,595

|align=right|185,731

|align=right|5.9

|align=right|7.5

|align=right|3.6

|align=right|+1.6 {{increase}}

|align=right

3.9 {{decrease}}

|align=right|6.6

|align=right|4.1

North West

|align=right|233,935

|align=right|255,385

|align=right|171,887

|align=right|7.8

|align=right|7.3

|align=right|4.5

|align=right

0.5 {{decrease}}

|align=right

2.8 {{decrease}}

|align=right|5.6

|align=right|3.8

Northern Cape

|align=right|102,519

|align=right|81,246

|align=right|99,150

|align=right|10.3

|align=right|7.1

|align=right|7.3

|align=right

3.2 {{decrease}}

|align=right|+0.2 {{increase}}

|align=right|1.8

|align=right|2.2

Western Cape

|align=right|832,902

|align=right|915,053

|align=right|1,217,807

|align=right|18.4

|align=right|15.7

|align=right|16.0

|align=right

2.7 {{decrease}}

|align=right|+0.3 {{increase}}

|align=right|19.9

|align=right|27.0

Total

|align=right|4,293,640

|align=right|4,586,838

|align=right|4,504,252

|align=right|9.6

|align=right|8.9

|align=right|7.3

|align=right

0.7 {{decrease}}

|align=right

1.6 {{decrease}}

|align=right|100.0

|align=right|100.0

=2022 census accuracy controversy=

After the publication of the 2022 census results, it was reported that the undercount rate was 31%. The high undercount rate was reported as an issue of concern as it raised questions about the accuracy of the number of white, Indian, foreign-born and homeless people recorded in the census.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |date=12 October 2023 |title=How much can we rely on Census 2022? |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-12-how-much-can-we-rely-on-census-2022/ |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

Politics

File:Charles Bell - Jan van Riebeeck se aankoms aan die Kaap.jpg, founder of Cape Town.]]

Former South African President Jacob Zuma commented in 2009 on Afrikaners being "the only white tribe in a black continent or outside of Europe which is truly African", and said that "of all the white groups that are in South Africa, it is only the Afrikaners that are truly South Africans in the true sense of the word."{{cite web|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Zuma-Afrikaners-true-S-Africans-20090402|title=Zuma: Afrikaners true S Africans|access-date=3 May 2010}} These remarks have led to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) laying a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against Zuma. According to the CCR's spokesman, Zuma's remarks constituted "unfair discrimination against non-Afrikaans-speaking, white South Africans....."[https://web.archive.org/web/20090408065357/http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=974092 Zuma's Afrikaner remark before HRC] The Times. 3 April 2009

In 2015, a complaint was investigated for hate speech against Jacob Zuma who said "You must remember that a man called Jan van Riebeeck arrived here on 6 April 1652, and that was the start of the trouble in this country."{{cite web|author=David Smith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/19/jacob-zuma-investigation-hate-speech |title=Jacob Zuma under investigation for using hate speech |work=The Guardian|date=20 February 2015 |access-date=15 January 2016}}

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki stated in one of his speeches to the nation that: "South Africa belongs to everyone who lives in it. Black and White."{{cite web|title=Address of the then President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, at the celebration of Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday|publisher=African National Congress Website|date=19 July 2008|url=http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mbeki/2008/tm0719.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205024635/http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mbeki/2008/tm0719.html|archive-date=5 December 2008|access-date=23 March 2010}}

Prior to 1994, a white minority held complete political power under a system of racial segregation called apartheid. During apartheid, immigrants from Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan were considered honorary whites in the country, as the government had maintained diplomatic relations with these countries. These were granted the same privileges as white people, at least for purposes of residence.[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895835,00.html Honorary Whites] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115130646/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895835,00.html |date=15 January 2016 }}, TIME, 19 January 1962 Some African Americans such as Max Yergan were granted an "honorary white" status as well.[http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-09-06-a-chronicle-of-apartheids-propaganda-war-on-black-america/#.Uiz_1tKsiSo A chronicle of Apartheid's propaganda war on black America] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115130646/http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-09-06-a-chronicle-of-apartheids-propaganda-war-on-black-america/#.Uiz_1tKsiSo |date=15 January 2016 }}, City Press, 25 August 2013

Statistics

= Historical population =

Statistics for the white population in South Africa vary greatly. Most sources show that the white population peaked in the period between 1989 and 1995 at around 5.2 to 5.6 million. Up to that point, the white population largely increased due to high birth rates and immigration. Subsequently, between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, the white population decreased overall. However, from 2006 to 2013, the white population increased.

class="wikitable sortable"
YearWhite population% of total populationSource
1701

|1,265

| -

|Cape Colony (excluding indentured servants){{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Robert |date=1975 |title=The 'White' Population of South Africa in the Eighteenth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2173508 |journal=Population Studies |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=217–230 |doi=10.2307/2173508 |jstor=2173508 |issn=0032-4728|hdl=1887/4261 |hdl-access=free }}

1795

|14,292

| -

|Cape Colony (excluding indentured servants)

19041,116,80521.6%1904 Census
19111,270,000 {{increase}}22.7% {{increase}}1911 Census
19603,088,492 {{increase}}19.3% {{decrease}}1960 Census
19613,117,000 {{increase}}19.1% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1961
19623,170,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1962
19633,238,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1963
19643,323,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1964
19653,398,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1965
19663,481,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1966
19673,563,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1967
19683,639,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1968
19693,728,000 {{increase}}19.0% {{nochange}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1969
19703,792,848 {{increase}}17.1% {{decrease}}1970 Census
19713,920,000 {{increase}}17.0% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1971
19724,005,000 {{increase}}16.9% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1972
19734,082,000 {{increase}}16.8% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1973
19744,160,000 {{increase}}16.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1974
19754,256,000 {{increase}}16.8% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1975
19764,337,000 {{increase}}18.2% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1976
19774,396,000 {{increase}}17.9% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1977
19784,442,000 {{increase}}18.5% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1978
19794,485,000 {{increase}}18.4% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1979
19804,522,000 {{increase}}18.1% {{decrease}}1980 Census
19814,603,000 {{increase}}18.0% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1981
19824,674,000 {{increase}}18.3% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1982
19834,748,000 {{increase}}18.2% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1983
19844,809,000 {{increase}}17.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1984
19854,867,000 {{increase}}17.5% {{decrease}}1985 Census
19864,900,000 {{increase}}17.3% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1986
19915,068,300 {{increase}}13.4% {{decrease}}1991 Census
19925,121,000 {{increase}}13.2% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1992
19935,156,000 {{increase}}13.0% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1993
19945,191,000 {{increase}}12.8% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1994
19955,224,000 {{increase}}12.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1995
19964,434,697 {{decrease}}10.9% {{decrease}}South African National Census of 1996
19974,462,200 {{increase}}10.8% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1997
19984,500,400 {{increase}}10.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1998
19994,538,727 {{increase}}10.5% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 1999
20004,521,664 {{decrease}}10.4% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2000
20014,293,640 {{decrease}}9.6% {{decrease}}South African National Census of 2001
20024,555,289 {{increase}}10.0% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2002
20034,244,346 {{decrease}}9.1% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2003
20044,434,294 {{increase}}9.5% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2004
20054,379,800 {{decrease}}9.3% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2005
20064,365,300 {{decrease}}9.2% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2006
20074,352,100 {{decrease}}9.1% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2007
20084,499,200 {{increase}}9.2% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2008
20094,472,100 {{decrease}}9.1% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2009
20104,584,700 {{increase}}9.2% {{increase}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2010
20114,586,838 {{increase}}8.9% {{decrease}}South African National Census of 2011
20134,602,400 {{increase}}8.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2013
20144,554,800 {{decrease}}8.4% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2014
20154,534,000 {{decrease}}8.3% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2015
20164,515,800 {{decrease}}8.1% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2016
20174,493,500 {{decrease}}8.0% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2017
20184,520,100 {{increase}}7.8% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2018
20194,652,006 {{increase}}7.9% {{increase}}Stats SA: [http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022019.pdf Mid-year population estimates, 2019]
20204,679,770 {{increase}}7.8% {{decrease}}Stats SA: [http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022020.pdf Mid-year population estimates, 2020]
20214,662,459 {{decrease}}7.8% {{no change}}Stats SA: [http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022021.pdf Mid-year population estimates, 2021]
20224,639,268 {{decrease}}7.7% {{decrease}}Stats SA: [https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022022.pdf Mid-year population estimates, 2022]
20234,504,349 {{decrease}}7.3% {{decrease}}South African National Census of 2022
20244,539,212 {{increase}}7.2% {{decrease}}Stats SA: Mid-year population estimates, 2024

= Fertility rates =

Contraception among white South Africans is stable or slightly falling: 80% used contraception in 1990, and 79% used it in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000104/page4.php |title=South Africa |publisher=SARPN |date=17 December 2008 |access-date=25 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119045440/http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000104/page4.php|archive-date=19 November 2008}}

class="wikitable"
YearTotal fertility rate{{cite web|url=http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000104/page2.php |title=South Africa |publisher=SARPN |date=17 December 2008 |access-date=25 August 2013}}Source
19603.5 {{decrease}}SARPN
19703.1 {{decrease}}SARPN
19802.4 {{decrease}}SARPN
19891.9 {{decrease}}UN.org
19902.1 {{increase}}SARPN
19961.9 {{decrease}}SARPN
19981.9 {{steady}}SARPN
2001{{cite web|url=http://www.hst.org.za/healthstats/5/data/eth|title=Health Statistics|work=Health Systems Trust, South Africa|date=2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515222114/http://www.hst.org.za/healthstats/5/data/eth|archive-date=15 May 2006}}1.8 {{decrease}}hst.org.za
20061.8 {{steady}}hst.org.za
20111.7 {{decrease}}Census 2011

= Life expectancy =

The average life expectancy at birth for males and females

class="wikitable"
YearAverage life expectancyMale life expectancyFemale life expectancy
1980{{cite web|author=Susan De Vos|url=http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/88-25.pdf|title=Population and Development among Blacks in South Africa: A Review|publisher=Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin|page=34|access-date=15 January 2016}}70.366.873.8
1985{{cite news|url=http://www.israel21c.org/israel-and-the-apartheid-lie/|title=Israel and the apartheid lie|work=Israel21c|date=14 November 2004|access-date=15 January 2016}}71??
199773.57077
2009{{cite web|url=http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=4170|title=Keynote address to the Civil Society Conference by Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU|work=cosatu.org.za|date=27 October 2010|access-date=15 January 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://links.org.au/node/1851|title=South Africa: COSATU's Zwelinzima Vavi's Ruth First Memorial Lecture|publisher=LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal|access-date=15 January 2016}}71??

= Unemployment =

class="wikitable"
ProvinceWhite unemployment rate (strict)
Eastern Cape{{cite web|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/15617/1/bp050002.pdf|title=A profile of the Eastern Cape province: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment|work=PROVIDE Project|date=August 2005|access-date=15 January 2016}}4.5%
Free State
Gauteng{{cite web|url=http://www.fin24.com/Business/Gauteng-life-a-mixed-bag-20100527|title=Gauteng life 'a mixed bag'|work=Fin24.com|date=27 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530030122/http://www.fin24.com/Business/Gauteng-life-a-mixed-bag-20100527|archive-date=30 May 2010}}8.7%
KwaZulu-Natal{{cite web|url=http://www.elsenburg.com/PROVIDE/reports/backgroundp/BP2009_1_8_%20MP%20Demographics.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126001218/http://elsenburg.com/provide/reports/backgroundp/BP2009_1_8_%20MP%20Demographics.pdf|archive-date=26 November 2010 |title=A Profile of the Mpumalanga Province: Demographics, Poverty, Income, Inequality and Unemployment from 2000 till 2007 |publisher=Elsenburg |date=February 2009 |access-date=31 August 2013}}8.0%
Limpopo{{cite web|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/15607/1/bp050009.pdf|title=A profile of the Limpopo province: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment|publisher=PROVIDE Project|date=August 2005|access-date=15 January 2016}}8.0%
Mpumalanga7.5%
North West
Northern Cape{{cite web|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/15612/1/bp050003.pdf|title=A profile of the Northern Cape province: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment|publisher=PROVIDE Project|date=August 2005|access-date=15 January 2016}}4.5%
Western Cape2.0%
Total

= Income =

Average annual household income by population group of the household head.[http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0310/P03102014.pdf Living Conditions of Households in South Africa, 2014/2015] page 14{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/06/chart-of-the-week-how-south-africa-changed-and-didnt-over-mandelas-lifetime/|title=Chart of the Week: How South Africa changed, and didn't, over Mandela's lifetime|date=6 December 2013 }}

class="wikitable"
Population groupAverage income (2015)Average income (2011)Average income (2001)
Whitealign=right|R 444 446 (321.7%)align=right|R 365 134 (353.8%)align=right|R 193 820 (400.6%)
Indian/Asianalign=right|R 271 621 (196.6%)align=right|R 251 541 (243.7%)align=right|R 102 606 (212.1%)
Colouredalign=right|R 172 765 (125.0%)align=right|R 112 172 (108.7%)align=right|R 51 440 (106.3%)
Africanalign=right|R 92 983 (67.3%)align=right|R 60 613 (58.7%)align=right|R 22 522 (46.5%)
Totalalign=right|R 138 168 (100%)align=right|R 103 204 (100%)align=right|R 48 385 (100%)

= Percentage of workforce =

class="wikitable"
ProvinceWhites % of the workforceWhites % of population
Eastern Cape10%4%
Free State
Gauteng{{cite web|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/15615/1/bp050007.pdf |title=A profile of Gauteng: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment |publisher=Elsenburg |access-date=31 August 2013}}25%18%
KwaZulu-Natal11%6%
Limpopo5%2%
Mpumalanga
North West
Northern Cape19%12%
Western Cape{{cite web|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/15619/1/bp050001.pdf |title=A profile of the Western Cape province: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment |publisher=Elsenburg |access-date=31 August 2013}}22%18%
Total

= Languages =

class="wikitable sortable"
Language

! 2016

! 2011

! 2001

! 1996

Afrikaansalign=right|57.9%align=right |60.8%align=right|59.1%align=right|57.7%
Englishalign=right|40.2%align=right|35.9%align=right|39.3%align=right|38.6%
Other languagesalign=right|1.9%align =right|3.3%align=right|1.6%align=right|3.7%
Total||align=right|100.0%||align=right|100.0%||align=right|100.0%||align=right|100.0%

= Religion =

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"

|+ Religious affiliation of white South Africans (2001 census){{cite web |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/timeseriesdata/pxweb2006/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=Religion%20by%20province&ti=Table%3A+Census+2001+by+province%2C+gender%2C+religion+recode+%28derived%29+and++population+group%2E+&path=../Database/South%20Africa/Population%20Census/Census%202001%20-%20Demarcation%20boundaries%20as%20at%2010%20October%202001/Provincial%20level%20-%20Persons/&lang=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130130121/http://www.statssa.gov.za/timeseriesdata/pxweb2006/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=Religion%20by%20province&ti=Table%3A+Census+2001+by+province%2C+gender%2C+religion+recode+%28derived%29+and++population+group.+&path=..%2FDatabase%2FSouth%20Africa%2FPopulation%20Census%2FCensus%202001%20-%20Demarcation%20boundaries%20as%20at%2010%20October%202001%2FProvincial%20level%20-%20Persons%2F&lang=1 |archive-date=30 November 2006 |title=Table: Census 2001 by province, gender, religion recode (derived) and population group |work=Census 2001 |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=2 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}

!align=left |Religion

NumberPercentage (%)
align=left | – Christianity3,726,26686.8%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Dutch Reformed churches1,450,86133.8%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Pentecostal/Charismatic/Apostolic churches578,09213.5%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Methodist Church343,1678.0%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Catholic Church282,0076.6%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Anglican Church250,2135.8%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Other Reformed churches143,4383.3%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Baptist churches78,3021.8%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Presbyterian churches74,1581.7%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Lutheran churches25,9720.6%
style="text-align:left; text-indent:30px;"| – Other Christian churches500,05611.6%
align=left|Judaism61,6731.4%
align=left|Islam8,4090.2%
align=left|Hinduism2,5610.1%
align=left|No religion377,0078.8%
align=left|Other or undetermined117,7212.7%
align=left|Total4,293,637100%

Discrimination

{{See|Anti-white racism#South Africa}}

Notable White South Africans

{{Refimprove|section|date=May 2024}}

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=Arts and media=

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See also

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Ethnic groups in South Africa}}

{{White people}}

{{British diaspora}}

{{Africa in topic|Britons in}}

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