White South Africans

White South Africans are, generally, 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, 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.

Most Afrikaners trace their ancestry back to colonists in the mid-17th century and have developed a separate cultural identity, including a distinct language. The majority of English-speaking White South Africans trace their ancestry to the 1820 British, Irish, and Dutch colonists. The remainder of the White South African population consists of later immigrants from Europe such as Greeks and Jews from Lithuania and Poland. Portuguese immigrants arrived after the collapse of the Portuguese colonial administrations in Angola and Mozambique, although many also originate from Madeira.

History

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. 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. The Cape Colony remained under Dutch rule for two more centuries, after which it was annexed by the United Kingdom around 1806. 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 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. 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. 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. 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 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.

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. South Africa's white population increased to over 3,408,000 by 1965, reached 4,050,000 in 1973, and peaked at 5,044,000 in 1990.

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.

Whites continue to play a role in the South African economy and across the political spectrum. The current number of white South Africans is not exactly known, as no recent census has been measured, although the overall percentage of up to 9% of the population represents a decline, both numerically and proportionately, since the country's first non-racial elections in 1994. Just under a million white South Africans are also living as expatriate workers abroad, which forms the majority of South Africa's brain drain.

Apartheid era

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. This was virtually extended to all those considered the children of two white persons, regardless of appearance. The Act was repealed on 17 June 1991.

Post-apartheid era

In an attempt at post-Apartheid redress, the Employment Equity Act of 1994, legislation promotes employment of people (Black Africans, Indian, Chinese, Coloured and White population groups, as well as disabled people) according to the representation of their racial group as a proportion of the total South African population. 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. 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.

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 and the classification continues to persist in government policy due to attempts at redress like Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity.

Diaspora and emigration

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.

Current trends

In recent decades, there has been a steady proportional decline in South Africa's white community, due to higher birthrates among other South African ethnic groups, as well as a high rate of emigration. In 1977, there were 4.3 million whites, constituting 16.4% of the population at the time. As of 2016, it is estimated that at least 800,000 white South Africans have emigrated since 1995.

Like many other communities strongly affiliated with the West and Europe's colonial legacy in Africa, white South Africans were in the past often economically better off than their black African neighbours and have surrendered political dominance to majority rule. There were also some white Africans in South Africa who lived in poverty—especially during the 1930s and increasingly since the end of minority rule. Current estimates of white poverty in South Africa run as high as 12%, though fact-checking website Africa Check described these figures as "grossly inflated" and suggested that a more accurate estimate was that "only a tiny fraction of the white population – as few as 7,754 households – are affected."

The new phenomenon of white poverty is mostly blamed on the government's affirmative action employment legislation, which reserves 80% of new jobs for black people and favours companies owned by black people (see Black Economic Empowerment). In 2010, Reuters stated that 450,000 whites live below the poverty line according to Solidarity and civil organisations, with some research saying that up to 150,000 are struggling for survival. However, the proportion of white South Africans living in poverty is still much lower than for other groups in the country, since approximately 50% of the general population fall below the upper-bound poverty line.

A further concern has been crime. Some white South Africans living in affluent white suburbs, such as Sandton, have been affected by the 2008 13.5% rise in house robberies and associated crime. In a study, Johan Burger, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said that criminals were specifically targeting wealthier suburbs. Burger explained that several affluent suburbs are surrounded by poorer residential areas and that inhabitants in the latter often target inhabitants in the former. The report also found that residents in wealthy suburbs in Gauteng were not only at more risk of being targeted but also faced an inflated chance of being murdered during the robbery.

The global financial crisis slowed the high rates of white people emigrating overseas and has led to increasing numbers of white emigrants returning to live in South Africa. Charles Luyckx, CEO of Elliot International and a board member of the Professional Movers Association, stated in December 2008 that emigration numbers had dropped by 10% in the six months prior. Meanwhile, "people imports" had increased by 50%.

In May 2014, Homecoming Revolution estimated that around 340,000 white South Africans had returned to South Africa in the preceding decade.

Furthermore, immigration from Europe has also supplemented the white population. The 2011 census found that 63,479 white people living in South Africa were born in Europe; of these, 28,653 had moved to South Africa since 2001.

At the end of apartheid in 1994, 85% of South Africa's arable land was owned by whites. The land reform program introduced after the end of apartheid intended that, within 20 years, 30% of white-owned commercial farm land should be transferred to black owners. Thus, in 2011, the farmers' association, Agri South Africa, coordinated efforts to resettle farmers throughout the African continent. The initiative offered millions of hectares from 22 African countries that hoped to spur development of efficient commercial farming. The 30 percent target was not close to being met by the 2014 deadline. According to a 2017 government audit, 72% of the nation's private farmland is owned by white people. In February 2018, the Parliament of South Africa passed a motion to review the property ownership clause of the constitution, to allow for the expropriation of land, in the public interest, without compensation, which was supported within South Africa's ruling African National Congress on the grounds that the land was originally seized by whites without just compensation. In August 2018, the South African government began the process of taking two white-owned farmlands. Western Cape ANC secretary Faiez Jacobs referred to the property clause amendment as a "stick" to force dialogue about the transfer of land ownership, with the hope of accomplishing the transfer "in a way that is orderly and doesn't create a 'them' and 'us' [situation]."

Demographics

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. 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.

Religion

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%).

Migrations

Many white Africans of European ancestry have migrated to South Africa from other parts of the continent due to political or economic turmoil in their respective homelands. Thousands of Portuguese Mozambicans, Portuguese Angolans, and white Zimbabweans emigrated to South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. However, the overwhelming majority of European migration correlated with the historic colonization of the region (some migrating for the purpose of extraction of resources, minerals and other lucrative elements found in South Africa, others for a better life and farming opportunities without many restrictions in newly colonised lands).

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

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.

The following table shows the distribution of white people by province, according to the 2011 census:

2022 Census Accuracy Controversy

After the publication of the census results it was reported that the undercount rate was 31% with the undercount rate being the highest in the Western Cape. 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.

Politics

White South Africans have a presence across the whole political spectrum from left to right.

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." 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....."

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."

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."

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. Some African Americans such as Max Yergan were granted an "honorary white" status as well.

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.

Fertility rates

Contraception among white South Africans is stable or slightly falling: 80% used contraception in 1990, and 79% used it in 1998. The following data shows some fertility rates recorded during South Africa's history. However, there are varied sources showing that the white fertility rate reached below replacement (2.1) by 1980. Likewise, recent studies show a range of fertility rates, ranging from 1.3 to 2.4. The Afrikaners tend to have a higher birthrate than that of other white people.

Life expectancy

The average life expectancy at birth for males and females

Unemployment

Income

Average annual household income by population group of the household head.

Percentage of workforce

Languages

Religion

Religion among white South Africans remains high compared to other white ethnic groups, but likewise it has shown a steady proportional drop in both membership and church attendance with until recently the majority of white South Africans attending regular church services.

Notable White South Africans

Science and technology

• Christiaan Barnard, surgeon who performed first successful human heart transplant
• Johan Naude, surgeon and urologist, past president of the South African Urological Association and a pioneering transplant surgeon
• Mike Botha, diamond cutter and educator; Yves Landry Award for Outstanding Innovation in Education, Canada
• Peter Sarnak, Princeton's Eugene Higgins professor of mathematics, specialising in number theory
• Stanley Skewes, mathematician whose work in number theory produced the record breaking Skewes number
• Percy Deift, mathematician specialising in analysis
• Sydney Brenner, biologist; Nobel Prize, Physiology/Medicine 2002
• Michael Levitt, biophysicist; Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2013
• Allan McLeod Cormack, physicist; Nobel Prize, Medicine 1979
• Gordon Murray, designer of Formula One race cars, including the Championship winning McLaren MP4/4 and the ultra-exclusive McLaren F1 Roadcar
• Basil Schonland, physicist
• Neil Turok, cosmologist
• George F. R. Ellis, cosmologist
• Max Theiler, virologist; Nobel Prize, Medicine 1951
• Phillip Tobias, palaeo-anthropologist
• Seymour Papert, pioneer of artificial intelligence

Military

• Flight Lieutenant Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor VC, DSO, MC and bar, DFC fighter ace, 1st World War
• Major William Bloomfield VC, South African East African campaign, 1st World War
• Captain William Faulds VC MC, Delville Wood, 1st World War
• Major John Frost DFC, South African Air Force fighter ace during the Second World War
• Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Frederick Johnson Hayward VC, Western Front, 1st World War
• Captain Petrus Hugo DSO DFC, fighter ace, Second World War
• Squadron Leader Albert Gerald Lewis DFC, South African fighter ace, 2nd World War
• Adolph "Sailor" Malan, Second World War ace fighter pilot
• Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton VC, Battle of Britain
• Major Oswald Reid VC, 1st World War
• Captain Clement Robertson VC, Western Front
• Lieutenant Colonel John Sherwood-Kelly VC CMG DSO, Second Boer War, Bambatha Rebellion, 1st World War
• Captain Quentin Smythe VC, North Africa 2nd World War
• Major Edwin Swales VC DFC, pilot during the Second World War
• Lieutenant Kevin Winterbottom HC, South African Air Force
• Staff Sergeant Danny Roxo HC, 32 Battalion, South African Army
• General Constand Viljoen SSA SD SOE SM MMM MP, former South African military chief and former leader of the Freedom Front Plus
• Air Vice Marshal John Frederick George Howe, CB, CBE, AFC (26 March 1930 – 27 January 2016)
• Lieutenant General Deon Ferreira, (1946-2002) - was a South African Army officer. He served as Chief of Joint Operations before his retirement.

Royalty and aristocracy

• Charlene, Princess of Monaco
• Bruce Murray, 12th Duke of Atholl

Arts and media

Business

• Etienne de Villiers, investor; media and sports executive
• Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore Xstrata, one of the world's largest commodity trading and mining companies
• Elon Musk, entrepreneur: SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal; wealthiest person in the world as of August 2022
• Sol Kerzner, accountant and business magnate mainly in the casino resort sector
• Harry Oppenheimer, chairman of Anglo American Corporation for 25 years and De Beers Consolidated Mines for 27 years
• Nicky Oppenheimer, chairman of the De Beers diamond mining company and its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company
• Anton Rupert, founder of the Rembrandt Group
• Johann Rupert, chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont and South Africa-based company Remgro
• Desmond Sacco, Chairman and managing director of Assore Limited
• Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, a Linux based computer Operating system; first African in space
• Christo Wiese, consumer Retail business magnate
• Clive Calder, record executive and businessman who co-founded the Zomba Group of Companies

Politics

• Louis Botha, farmer, soldier, statesman; first Prime Minister of South Africa
• P. W. Botha, former State President of South Africa
• F. W. de Klerk, former State President of South Africa
• Marike de Klerk, former First Lady of South Africa, murdered in her home in 2001
• Sir Patrick Duncan Governor-General at the start of the Second World War
• Ruth First, anti-apartheid activist and scholar
• Sir James Percy FitzPatrick, author, politician and businessman
• Derek Hanekom, Deputy Minister of Technology; prominent ANC member of Parliament
• Nicholas Haysom, Former legal adviser to Nelson Mandela, former United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan
• Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town
• Sandra Laing, white girl reclassified as "Coloured" during the apartheid era
• D. F. Malan, former Prime Minister of South Africa
• Pieter Mulder, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries; leader of the Freedom Front Plus
• Andries Pretorius, former leader of the Voortrekkers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic
• Harry Schwarz, lawyer, politician, diplomat and anti-apartheid leader
• Joe Slovo, former leader of the South African Communist Party played key part in constitutional negotiations in the 1990s
• Field Marshal Jan Smuts, soldier, politician and former Prime Minister of South Africa during both World Wars. Only person to sign both world War peace treaties on the winning side.
• Jan Steytler, first leader of Progressive Party of South Africa, former MP
• Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid activist and former MP, solo anti-apartheid parliamentarian from 1961 to 1974 representing Progressive Party (South Africa), served on first Independent Electoral Commission supervising first non-racial national elections in South Africa
• Colin Eglin, former leader of the Progressive Party (South Africa) and its successors and former MP, played key role in building up parliamentary opposition to apartheid in the 1970s and 1980s, and in constitutional negotiations in the 1990s
• Zach de Beer, former Progressive Party (South Africa) MP, subsequent leader of Democratic Party and post-apartheid ambassador to The Netherlands, also played key part in constitutional negotiations in the 1990s
• Rick Crouch, City Councillor in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
• Eugène Terre'Blanche, former leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging; murdered
• Andries Treurnicht, former Leader of the Opposition (South Africa) from 1987 to 1993
• Marthinus van Schalkwyk, previous Minister of Tourism and ANC member of Parliament; played a key role in merging the National Party into the ANC
• Hendrik Verwoerd, former Prime Minister of South Africa; primary architect of Apartheid; assassinated in Cape Town, in the House of Assembly
• Helen Zille, former leader of the Democratic Alliance and Premier of the Western Cape

Sport

Other

• Mariette Bosch, murderer executed by the government of Botswana in 2001 for the murder of South African Ria Wolmarans

See also

• White Africans of European ancestry
• Bantu peoples of South Africa
• Coloureds
• Cape Malay
• Afrikaners
• History of South Africa
• Portuguese South Africans
• Greek South Africans
• Huguenots in South Africa
• 1820 settlers
• Italian South Africans
• Irish diaspora
• Khoisan
• Asian South Africans
• Indian South Africans
• Japanese South Africans
• Chinese South Africans
• Serbs in South Africa
• Norwegian South Africans
• German South Africans
• History of the Jews in South Africa
• Racism in South Africa
• Demographics of South Africa

References