Pakistanis in South Africa

Pakistanis in South Africa

Total population
(2,500)
Regions with significant populations
Cape Town · Johannesburg · Durban
Languages
Urdu ·  · Saraiki Punjabi · Pashto · English
Religion
Islam

There are up to 2,500 (over 3,700 as measured in Census 2001) Pakistanis in South Africa, based in various locations across Cape Town, Gauteng and Durban. They are post-Apartheid migrants from Pakistan, and should not be confused with Indian South Africans, who are largely descendants of late 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants from pre-independence British India although the recent immigrants often live and work in traditionally Indian areas. Many expatriates run Pakistani restaurants, or barber shops; and the Johannesburg suburb of Fordsburg is said to be among the best places to find Pakistani food. It has often been speculated that various Indian and Pakistani crime syndicates operate within the country, most of whom tend to be involved in drug smuggling. In February 2010, a crowd of angry rioters protesting unemployment issues burnt tyres and barricaded roads in a northern township in Johannesburg; local media reported that Pakistani shopkeepers were among those whose premises were looted.

The status of Pashtun people under apartheid were classed as Indians after the annexation of Afghanistan's territory into the British Raj following the Durand line agreement, an ongoing controversy between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pashtuns are an east-Iranian peoples and phenotypically of Mediterranean stock with significant occurrences of Nordic phenotypes among Pashtuns. Christianity was a primary designation for status of white African which denied status to Muslim South Africans despite displaying fair phenotypes.

External links

• South African Pakistanis enormously contributing to country’s economy