Cape Malays
Cape Malays (Afrikaans: Kaapse Maleiers, کاپز ملیس in Arabic script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifically Indonesia (at that time known as the Dutch East Indies) and other Asian countries, who lived at the Cape during Dutch and British rule.
Malay bride and bridesmaids in South Africa. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 325,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| South Africa Western Cape, Gauteng | |
| Languages | |
| Afrikaans, South African English Historically Malay, Makassarese, Dutch, Arabic Afrikaans | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Javanese, Malays, Indians, Malagasy, Cape Dutch, Dutch, Cape Coloureds, Bugis |
Although the initial members of the community were from the Dutch colonies of South East Asia, by the 1800s the term Malay encompassed all practising Muslims at the Cape, regardless of origin. They initially used Malay as a lingua franca and language of religious instruction, and this was one of the likely reasons that the community were referred to as Malays.
Malays are concentrated in the Cape Town area. Cape Malay cuisine forms a significant part of South African cuisine, and the community played an important part in the history of Islam in South Africa. The community played a part in developing Afrikaans as a written language, initially using an Arabic script.
"Malay" was legally a subcategory of the Coloured racial group during the apartheid era.