Racial discrimination in post-Apartheid South Africa? The stories of Coloured people in Johannesburg,South Africa

Abstract

Dominant theoretical conversations on experiences of racial discrimination are focused on how Black and other non-White people perceive and experience racial discrimination in White majority racial systems; however, research is scant on experiences of racial discrimination of racial minorities in Black majority social systems. This paper addresses this lacuna by exploring perceived experiences of racial discrimination of Coloured people in Johannesburg, South Africa, a racial minority in a Black majority country. Fourteen in-depth individual interviews were conducted with participants. Analysis of the interviews resulted in many interviewees claiming race-based discrimination in housing, employment, service delivery, political representation and education. A few participants, however, claimed that Black South Africans are also experiencing socioeconomic problems like Coloured South Africans. Racial discrimination theory and social exclusion theory are used as perspectives for the study. Based on the findings, I argue that the perceived experiences of racial discrimination of most of the participants of the study can be explained by three interrelated structural forces, namely legacies of historical racial exclusions, the neoliberal macro-economic order and government neglect.

Keywords

Black African Coloured government neglect Johannesburg neo-liberalism post-Apartheid South Africa racial discrimination Westbury

Introduction

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible – Maya Angelou

The South African society is racially organized along four categories, namely¹ Black African, White, Coloured and Indian. These categories were created in Apartheid era through Population Registration Act No. 30 of 1950 (Maylam, 2001). It is this Act which functioned as the foundation for Apartheid’s institutional racial discrimination and segregation (Maylam, 2001). Even after Apartheid laws had ended in the 1990s, these categories have still been in use in post-Apartheid² South Africa and still structure racial group relations and socioeconomic experiences (Pirtle, 2021).

This article examines how Coloured people in Westbury³, Johannesburg, a working-class suburb with high unemployment, talk about their lived experiences in regards to their socioeconomic condition and experiences of racial exclusion in a post-Apartheid context; their stories are situated within the context of a Black African-majority government and in a country with high inequality and poverty particularly among non-White groups.

Based on the narrated experiences of the participants, this paper argues that the stories of racial marginalization of the majority of the participants can be explained by three interrelated structural forces, namely legacies of historical racial exclusions, the neoliberal macro-economic order and government neglect. The three explanatory models also apply to participants of this study who claimed that not only Coloured South Africans but also Black African South Africans are also experiencing marginalization in the post-Apartheid context.

In October 2018, residents of Westbury, Johannesburg, held protests for many days claiming that they were racially marginalized by the Black African-majority government in post-Apartheid South Africa (Jordaan, 2018). The protests were initially sparked by the killing of a Coloured woman in Westbury caught in gang-related shootings (Bheki, 2018; Jordaan, 2018; Pijoos, 2018). Members of the community claimed that service delivery and policing in the area were neglected due to the racial identity of the residents and called for the government to intervene (Bheki, 2018; Jordaan, 2018; Pijoos, 2018, 2023). The South African, in its 04 October 2018 issue featured a community representative of the Coloured community in Westbury as saying “In the previous dispensation, we were not White enough, now we are not Black enough” (Daniel, 2018). The present study was inspired by such protests and I conducted interviews with some of the residents to learn more about their stories and perceptions of racial marginalization.

Race-based discrimination and marginalization has characterized the history of South Africa for centuries. Race has always been a primary organizing factor to access economic resources and political power (Chen, 2021; Frederickson, 1981; Maylam, 2001; Petrus and Uwah, 2022). Racial discrimination in South Africa emerged when European settlers appeared in the Cape in the 17^th century (Christopher, 2001; Guelke, 2005; Maylam, 2001). Particularly after the onset of Apartheid in 1948, the government instituted many laws and policies to exclude non-White⁴/non-European populations namely Black Africans,⁵ Indians⁶ and Coloured from accessing political power and socioeconomic resources which were reserved for White people (Christopher, 2002; Seekings, 2008). The Apartheid government used both spatial and social segregation to exclude non-White populations in the country (Christopher, 2002). Black South Africans had been the most affected by racial discrimination while those racially defined as Coloured and Indian also suffered under White European minority rule (Christopher, 1990; Maylam, 2001). Non-White racial groups in South Africa were excluded from the White society in domains such as education, health, employment, housing/residence, and other areas (Beinart and Dubow, 1995; Guelke, 2005).

After White minority rule ended in 1994 and political power was transferred to majority rule of Black African South Africans, the government officially reclassified Coloureds and Indians, alongside Black Africans, as ‘Black People’. This reclassification was done for purposes of Employment Equity Act No, 55 of 1998 and Broad-Base Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 to redress past racial inequalities (Broad based Black Economic Empowerment, 2016). Despite the official re-classification of Coloured people as ‘Black People’, however, many Coloured communities have claimed that they have been racially marginalized in the post-Apartheid era (Daniel, 2018).

In the Employment Equity Amendment Act No. 04 of 2022, the Department of Labour prescribed racial demography-based numerical targets for the employment of the different South African racial groups namely Black African, Coloured, Indian and White in various economic sectors and across the South African provinces. Some academics have strongly argued that the amended law somehow diverted from its original Act of Act 55 of 1998 because it now proposes minimal representation of South African racial minority groups namely Indian and Coloured populations in certain sectors of the South African economy and in some provinces (Steenhuisen, 2023). Many political personalities, academics and analysts have been voicing their concerns about the amended Act by saying that this Act will indeed exacerbate the unemployment conditions of non-Black African racial minorities such as Coloured and Indian people in South Africa (Steenhuisen, 2023).

According to the amended Act No. 04 of 2022, racial minority groups in South Africa such as Indian and Coloured South Africans will account for small percentages in certain economic sectors and regions of the country (Steenhuisen, 2023). Analysts have sternly warned that the amended Act will harm South Africa’s economy and particularly racial minorities in the country who were racially marginalized during the Apartheid era (Steenhuisen, 2023).

The Democratic Alliance (DA)⁷ party recently published a document entitled ‘ANC sinks to new low as race quotas ban ‘Coloured population group’ from employment in certain provinces’ and argued,

The regulations apply to all companies with more than 50 employees. They signal a new low for the ANC government, constituting a naked attempt to expand State control over the economy, deepen social divisions and ban certain communities from employment in particular sectors and parts of the country. The quotas seem especially targeted at the groups defined by the regulations as “coloured males,” “coloured females,” “Indian males” and “Indian females.” People from these communities suffered discrimination under the previous regime, and now they are being re-victimised by a democratic government that has learnt all the wrong lessons from the past…In sectors like agriculture, forestry and fisheries, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, finance, arts, and science, the “targets” set for coloured employees in provinces like Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West is 0.0%, effectively banning these groups from employment. Even in Gauteng, the country’s economic heartland, employment by people classified by the State as coloured is sometimes limited to below 1%. In the case of employees classified by the State as Indian, the targets are often as low as 0.1% across economic sectors. (Steenhuisen John 15 May 2023).

Many race scholars have examined the lived experiences of Coloured South Africans in regards to racial marginalization in the post-Apartheid democratic dispensation (e.g., Battersby, 2002; Kenny and Davids, 2022; Petrus and Uwah, 2022). For example, in a doctoral thesis entitled, ‘A Question of Marginalization: Coloured Identities and Education in the Western Cape, South Africa’, Battersby (2002) investigated experiences of racial discrimination of Coloured people in the Western Cape province and writes about the socioeconomic condition of Coloured people after the end of Apartheid as,

socially and economically marginalized under the current government as they were under apartheid, Coloured population continue to be marginalized by educational practices in the Western Cape…many members of the Coloured population believe that they are as marginalized in the post-apartheid era as they were under apartheid. The research demonstrates that there is evidence to support the contention that the Coloured population continue to be marginalized by educational practices in the Western Cape (Pp. 323)

In their article entitled, ‘Strangers in their own country’: interpreting xenophobic symbology and gang subcultures in vulnerable Coloured communities’, Petrus and Uwah (2022) describe the post-Apartheid situation of Coloured people in South Africa as internalized xenophobia where Coloured people in contemporary South Africa are racially marginalized under the Black African-majority government. Petrus and Uwah (2022) write that

[l]ack of service delivery, poor socioeconomic conditions, unemployment and various other indicators of marginalisation, all form part of the structural violence perpetrated against these [Coloured] communities…the present perceptions of marginalisation and stigmatisation of vulnerable coloured communities is partly the result of historical factors, but now they are also the result of macrolevel structural violence against these communities…Post-1994, the negative meanings attached to coloured identities persisted, and this is what has given rise to what we call internalised xenophobia. (pp. 172).

The above quote suggests the structural/institutional racial marginalization Coloured people face in post-Apartheid South Africa due to their non-Black African racial status. Petrus and Uwah (2022) further suggest that

coloured communities also feel themselves targeted by external macro-level policies that entrench their marginalised and stigmatised status in the minds of those outside of these communities.” (pp. 172).

Regarding negative collective self-image that experiences and perceptions of racial discrimination created among Coloured, Petrus and Uwah (2022) also write that “…stigmatisation and marginalisation, engender within vulnerable coloured communities’ perceptions of being unwanted strangers.” (pp. 174).

In another study on perceptions of racial discrimination among Coloured women in South Africa, Kenny and Davids (2022) also align with the above studies and suggest that

instead of removing racialised barriers, preference is given to “black” African women creating further marginalisation and division of “women of colour…The consequences of division are felt as a prioritisation of “black” African women at the expense of “coloured” (and “Indian”) women, perpetuating a hierarchical ordering of race and women.’ (pp. 184).

Furthermore, Kenny and Davids (2022) add that, ‘…the onset of democracy has not necessarily undone the kinds of injustices “coloured” women were subjected to during apartheid’ (pp 185).

In a survey-based research report entitled ‘South Africans generally tolerant but report racial discrimination by employers and courts’, Lekalake and Nkomo (2016) disclose that the post-Apartheid government racially discriminates against non-Black African people such as the Coloured in employment. Lekalake and Nkomo (2016) note that

‘perceptions of government discrimination have increased significantly since 2011 amongst citizens from minority race groups. Furthermore, majorities of South Africans say that the courts and employers regularly discriminate against people based on their race’ (pp. 1)

Lekalake and Nkomo (2016: 3) further write that Indian South Africans followed by Coloured South Africans report being unfairly discriminated against by government agencies in the post-Apartheid context.

The media have also covered protest actions by Coloured people in South Africa who complained being racially marginalized. For example, in 2013⁸ four Coloured and one White South Africans sued the Department of Correctional Services alleging that the complainants were refused promotion opportunities at the Department due to their non-Black African racial status (Sapa, 2013). The complainants protested in front of Labour Court in Cape Town complaining that they were not White enough during Apartheid and not Black enough after the end of Apartheid. A Coloured protester at the time denounced race-based hiring promotion practices by saying, “Coloured people must be given a fair share of the pie” (Sapa, 2013).

In 2018, Coloured people in Ennerdale and Eldorado Park also protested about lack of service delivery and drug problems in their areas (Okoye, 2018). The protesters claimed that they were not White enough during Apartheid and not Black enough in post-Apartheid and accused the government of racial bias against non-Black African (Okoye, 2018).

More recently in June 2023, Coloured people in South Africa have also staged many protests in Westbury, Johannesburg. They were protesting in response to the Employment Equity Amendment Bill which they said racially discriminates against them. For example, in a news article entitled ‘We get treated as foreigners in our country’: Westbury residents take to streets’, News24 covered the protests on 12 June 2023 in the following way,

Residents in Westbury, Johannesburg, staged a protest in the suburb on Monday morning, voicing their concerns about the lack of employment opportunities for coloured people in local government and businesses… “Our kids are already not working, with that bill being signed into law, that tells us that our children are going to fall by the wayside. “We are being sidelined and marginalised. It cannot continue. We see our children daily falling into drugs because they have no hope, and that also causes all these gang fights that you are seeing in our community, because drug dealers are willing to employ them… “Our coloureds have just been pushed to one side, but we are the ones that are affected the most. Look at skills development; we are gaining nothing, and now with that act in place, what is going to become of us?”… “We are not racist. They [the government] are doing reversed apartheid to us. We are living between our black brothers, but the government is pulling us apart…Disgruntled residents sang songs and held placards that read: “Coloureds, whites and Indians are also South Africans,” and: “Down with race quotas.”…(Pijoos, 12 June 2023).

However, even though Coloured South Africans have expressed their discontent regarding race-based discrimination, Black South Africans are also experiencing socioeconomic problems in the county. For example, regarding socioeconomic problems such as unemployment, Statistics South Africa reports that Black Africans in South Africa have high unemployment rate and are positioned on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder (StatsSA, 2023). This does not mean that the other racial groups are better off as unemployment and poverty have also afflicted other racial groups in the country. According to Statistics South Africa, the 2023 national unemployment rate in South Africa stood at 32.9% which it describes as among the highest globally (StatsSA, 2023).

This article poses a research question, ‘How do Coloured people in Westbury, South Africa talk about their living condition in post-Apartheid South Africa in relation to racial marginalization?’

This following section reviews international literature on racial discrimination followed by racial discrimination theory and social exclusion theory. The method for the study is outlined followed by the results and discussion sections. The final section concludes the study.

Racial discrimination literature

There is extensive literature on the interface between racial identity and discrimination. Much of the literature on racial discrimination is focused on experiences of non-White Black⁹ and Brown¹⁰ people living in White majority social systems such as North America, Europe, New Zealand Europe, and Australia (See, Coard, 2021; Dovchin, 2020; Gatwiri, 2021; Gatwiri and Anderson, 2021; Lowe and Wallace, 2017; Rabby, 2022; Wu and Finnsdottir, 2021). When the term ‘racial discrimination’ is usually invoked, White people are generally viewed as engaging in discriminatory practices against non-White racial groups.

Such scholarly works examined how non-White racial minority members living in White majority societies experienced racial discrimination and prejudice in domains such as housing, employment, health, education and everyday social interactions (Joseph 2019; Hart 2019; Dovchin, 2020; Gatwiri and Anderson, 2021).

Scholars have therefore documented how non-White racial minorities and migrants encountered every day race-based discrimination in various European countries such as Germany (see, Scherr, 2020; Steinmann, 2019), Ireland (Joseph, 2019; McGinnity and Gijsberts, 2018; Schäfer, 2021), Italy (Della, 2020; Rabby, 2022) and the UK (Berghs and Dyson, 2022; Cobbinah, 2018). In Canada, where societal classification is based on racial categories namely White, South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean or Japanese, scholars have widely reported on how non-White minorities, particularly Black people, experienced racial exclusion in various domains (see Wu and Finnsdottir, 2021).

Other scholars of racial discrimination have also studied experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination of minorities in New Zealand, a society classified along categories such as Māori, Pacific peoples, Asian, MELAA (Middle Eastern/Latin American/African), and ‘Other ethnicity’ (see, Kapeli et al., 2020; Winter et al., 2019). Even though New Zealand is generally described as a tolerant society, many Brown and Black minorities have reported experiencing racial prejudice and latent forms of racial discrimination by the White dominant society (Kapeli et al., 2020).

Researchers examining the intersections of race, ethnicity and structural and individual discrimination in Australia, a White-majority society, have also reported on experiences of institutional and everyday racial exclusion and discrimination of non-White minorities in the country (see, Carangio et al., 2021; Tebeje, 2021). Racial prejudice in the form of negative media reporting about Black people and prejudice in everyday social interactions have also been reported in research studies on Australia (e.g., Gatwiri and Anderson, 2021; Majavu, 2020).

In the case of the U.S., experiences of racial prejudice and discrimination of Brown and Black people is extensively documented (Cénat et al., 2021; Coard, 2021). Particularly Black people have historically and in contemporary America, a White-majority society, experienced widespread and entrenched racial prejudice, discrimination and negative stereotyping (Coard, 2021).

Therefore, much of the literature on racial groups and discrimination is focused on how racial minorities such as Black and Brown people encounter institutional and everyday discrimination in White-majority socio-cultural systems (Berghs and Dyson, 2022; Coard, 2021). Despite the preponderance of studies on racial discrimination in White dominant societies, not much has been studied on how racial minorities experience racial discrimination in Black majority societies such as South Africa. This paper attempts to address this lacuna by exploring how Coloured South Africans, a racial minority, perceive racial discrimination in a Black African-majority government and society of South Africa.

Below, I use two interrelated theoretical perspectives, namely racial discrimination theory and social exclusion theory. By employing these theories, I am not suggesting that racial discrimination or social exclusion against Coloured people objectively exist in South Africa but I use the theories to conceptually situate the perceptions and stories of the participants.

Racial discrimination theory

Racial discrimination is defined as ‘differential treatment on the basis of race that disadvantages a racial group’ (Blank et al., 2004: 4). This theory also suggests that ‘discrimination can create barriers to equal treatment and opportunity and can have adverse effects on various outcomes’ (ibid. 70). The theory of racial discrimination assumes both covert and overt dimensions of ‘hostility expressed…toward members of a disadvantaged racial group.’

This theory presumes racial minorities such as Black and Brown populations as disadvantaged racial groups while White-majority societies and their institutions such as those found in the US as the perpetrators of racial oppression or racial discrimination (Blank et al., 2004).

According to this theory, racial discrimination operates in various ways such as intentional or explicit discrimination, (Blank et al., 2004: 56), subtle or unconscious discrimination (ibid: 59), statistical discrimination or profiling (ibid: 62) and racial discrimination through organizational or institutional processes.

Regarding intentional or explicit forms of racial discrimination, White people and their institutions express direct and overt hostility and exclusion against Black and Brown populations (Blank et al., 2004: 56), while subtle, unconscious and automatic forms of racial discrimination include ‘differential media portrayals of nonwhites versus whites, as well as de facto segregation in housing, education, and occupations’ (Blank et al., 2004: 58).

Subtle forms of racial discrimination are most often ambiguous and hidden. In statistical discrimination and profiling, White individuals or White-owned institution ‘use overall beliefs about a group to make decisions about an individual from that group’ (Blank et al., 2004: 61). When racial discrimination operates through organizational processes, organizational rules carry racial bias that disadvantage non-White racial minorities: this form of discrimination is referred to as ‘structural discrimination.’

Racial discrimination theory generally posits that White people exercise racial discrimination against non-Whites to create and maintain White advantage and White privilege (Hart, 2019). Racial minorities such as Black and Brown people living in White-majority societies are perpetual victims of racial marginalization or discrimination in various domains of their lives (Blank et al., 2004; Hart, 2019).

I have relied heavily on Blank et al. (2004) for this theory but there are other scholars who have advanced similar theoretical arguments related to racial discrimination and critical race theory (e.g., Olmsted, 1998; Lang and Lehmann, 2012).

I should emphasize here that ‘racial discrimination theory’ does not apply to the few participants who claimed that Blacks are also suffering and that race should not be used as an explanatory lens to explain the condition of Coloured people in Westbury.

Social exclusion theory

This theory proposes that institutional or structural forces impede the progress of certain social groups in a society when a dominant social group systematically excludes their socioeconomic participation (Seekings, 2008). For the purpose of this paper, three interrelated structural conditions are postulated as powerful forces that negatively impact the everyday lives of historically racially marginalized South Africans including Coloured people in South Africa. The three systemic factors are legacies of historical racial exclusions, the neoliberal macro-economic order and government neglect. These interrelated systems of oppression create conditions for non-White racial groups in South Africa to still experience inequality and poverty decades after the end of White minority rule in 1994 (Seekings, 2008).

‘Legacies of historical racial exclusions’ refers to centuries of systemic disempowerment of Black Africans, Indians and Coloured South Africans by White Europeans through restrictive laws and regulations that impeded their socioeconomic advancement and by doing so engendered generational poverty and exclusions from wealth accumulation and economic progress 5 (Guelke, 2005; StatsSA, 2023). The outcomes of colonial and Apartheid dispossession and exclusions of non-White racial groups in South Africa still reflect in the current socioeconomic status of the non-White populations in the country; while most Whites still find themselves in advantageous socioeconomic status due to, among others, intergenerationally accumulated wealth and opportunity (Guelke, 2005; StatsSA, 2023).

South Africa’s post-Apartheid ‘neoliberal economic order’ is also a second culprit in the pauperization and intergenerational inequality of many non-White South Africans (Abramovitz and Zelnick, 2010; Narsiah, 2002). Neoliberal macro-economic model hampers redistributive justice as state-led welfarist social policies and programs are minimal, while profit maximization of the private sector and the culture of consumerism becomes the dominant economic order (Abramovitz and Zelnick, 2010).

The third structural force that maintained and entrenched inequality and poverty is ‘government neglect’ where state agencies fail to allocate adequate resources to address socioeconomic problems of marginalized social groups in South Africa (Mokhutso, 2022). As citizens are left to fend for themselves and the state’s interventions are limited, historically excluded non-White racial groups in South Africa still find themselves on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and struggle to survive (Mokhutso, 2022). 7 Many scholars note that the main problems associated with the post-Apartheid government include lack of service delivery (Masuku and Jili, 2019) to previously racially marginalized groups and corruption at multiple levels of state bureaucracy (Tapscott, 2017). Therefore, in South Africa poor governance and its attendant government neglect, corruption and poor service delivery have resulted in previously disadvantaged racial groups to experience continued poverty, inequality and lack of social mobility (Masuku et al., 2022).

For the purpose of this paper, these three interconnected systemic analytical concepts will be utilized to interpret the condition of Coloured people in Westbury, Johannesburg.

Method

In order to answer the paper’s main research question, qualitative method was adopted and individual interviews were conducted with community members of Westbury and leaders of Coloured community organizations in Westbury. Convenience and snow-ball sampling were used as techniques to recruit participants for the study.

I explained to the interviewees that the purpose of the study was to understand perceived racial discrimination experiences of Coloured people in Westbury, Johannesburg. The interviewees expressed their willingness to participate and voluntarily signed consent forms. In order to protect the privacy of participants, pseudonyms were used to identify interviewees. Research participants were between the ages of 22 and 68. On average, the interviews took from 30 to 45 min. English was used to collect data. While 12 interviews were conducted in person in Westbury, Johannesburg, in June 2021, two were conducted via WhatsApp voice call in April 2022. Eight participants were males and six were females.

The interview questions focused on understanding the living conditions of residents in Westbury, their everyday challenges and the extent to which their racial identity shaped their experiences in post-Apartheid South Africa. The digitally recorded qualitative data was transcribed and thematic analysis technique was used to analyze the transcribed data.

Analysis and identification of themes were focused on identifying instances of experiences of race-based discrimination in various domains. Thematic analysis for the study was done in line with Braun and Clarke’s (2006) stages of data analysis. First, I familiarized myself with the data by reading and re-reading the transcribed document then I started generating codes in relation to the main research question. I organized the codes into broader and meaningful themes that reflect the study’s central research question. I then reviewed the themes to ascertain that they indeed were relevant to the research question and were supported by data. The last step was defining and naming the final themes.

The identified themes were: (1) perceived racial discrimination in housing; (2) perceived racial discrimination in employment; (3) perceived racial discrimination in service delivery; (4) perceived racial discrimination in political representation; (5) perceived racial discrimination in education; (6) Black people are also suffering.

Westbury became a ‘Coloured area’ due to the Apartheid government’s Group Areas Act No. 41 of 1950 which forced racial groups, defined by Population registration Act No 30 of 1950, to live in separate residential areas (Maylam, 2001). Westbury adopted its current name in 1967 (Chapman, 2015). Westbury is a predominantly working-class neighbourhood and a few people defined as Black African, Indian, White and foreign nationals also live there. There is high crime, drug-related violence and unemployment in Westbury.

Results

Perceived racial discrimination in housing

Participants identified housing problem in the area as the main issue afflicting the Westbury community. Candice, a female participant in her thirties, described the overcrowded living conditions of Coloured people in Westbury in the following way,

[W]here can I start, it is terrible…our living condition is very terrible…most of our people especially in the flats there is about ten, twelve people living in a bachelor flat, it is horrible and most of those people have signed up for places [government provided], bigger places stuff like that. They are still waiting at this very moment and it’s been years they are still waiting...all these years they are still waiting.

Supporting Candice’s account, another interviewee, Vinzo, a female participant in her thirties also described the housing situation of Coloured people in Westbury in the following manner:

Most of the houses, have a lot of people living in it…the flats are also two bedroom flats so having more than ten people live in that space would probably be like five adults and maybe five kids or six or seven kids living in one space… That is maybe a one bedroom or two bedroom…it is a bit difficult for people to live here…they [government officials] make promises saying that ‘we gonna get you guys houses or RDP¹¹ houses’ and they [government officials] never do…

Felix, a male resident in his late twenties described the house problem in Westbury as a condition afflicting all racially classified Coloured people in South Africa:

People are still living on top of each other in such a way; there is still a lot of overcrowding…ya that is the living conditions erm for majority of Coloured people not just in Johannesburg...I would challenge you to go to every so-called Coloured place across the provinces. You can go to Cape Town, you can go to KZN¹², you can go to here Joburg…that is the real challenge and it has always been the challenge of the Coloured person.

Vino, a middle-aged male participant, reports that the housing problem of Coloured people in Westbury was chronic and racially discriminatory:

[Coloured] were on the waiting list to get houses, for them to get houses, and the negotiations went on and on for quite about three years but after the three years none of these people were allocated these houses…The situation that we are sitting in at the moment is overpopulation of families occupying houses…the improvement and service delivery in the area is very very very very slow. Coloured people in our areas are being used as pawns within the political game… at the end of the day the areas are still underserviced…because we are not the favourest of the government

Tete, a female participant in her thirties, narrated the housing issue in Westbury in the following way,

…there was an arson and that whole block of flats burned out right…these people are living in shacks like one bedroom shacks; there are families of six people ,,families of seven, eight, ten…more than five people having to live in one room [inaudible] why is government not fixing that? I am sorry I am gonna say it if it was Black people it would have been built immediately; they would have fixed that place up…But go to the Black communities look at how beautiful the places are...our places are run down..

Jam, a male participant in his late twenties, noted that the housing issue in Westbury was because the government favoured Black Africans over Coloured people,

So they said they gonna build houses for us on that side next to the railway station. They [government officials] build the houses but yet again it was not for us. People stay in our areas but all Africans. And none of us, it is like out of a thousand houses they built up there; there is only about let’s say seventy people seventy Coloured that lived there. Even the buildings they build up like the subsidized flats and block houses that comes out between [inaudible] they still put in the African people there…they built houses there subsidized houses all of them…or let me say most of them were given to the African people where there is very few Coloured people that stay there.

Neglect by the government in the provision of adequate housing for Coloured residents in Westbury was predominantly, according to the interviewees accounts, due to the racial status of the Coloured residents and government favoritism towards Black African South Africans.

Study participants also suggested that the government racially discriminated them in employment and that Black African South Africans were favoured by state agencies in hiring practices.

Perceived racial discrimination in employment

Participants also noted that Coloured people experienced racial discrimination when they applied for jobs. The interviewees emphasized that due to the favoritism towards Black Africans and negative stereotypes about Coloured people, they were excluded from obtaining employment. For example, Felix described racial discrimination against Coloured people when they applied for jobs:

[A] Coloured person gets screened based on you know, ‘Are you a criminal?’, ‘Are you on drugs?’, ‘Are you competent? But the Black South African, a fellow South African who happens to be Black, won’t probably not go through that same amount of screening because he basically just gets the job because of his race.

Vino also said that bureaucrats in the Black African-majority government discriminated against Coloured job applicants due to negative stereotyping:

So we are sitting with a mammoth problem of unemployment as well as discouraged youth and they don’t have the drive as they know they know they are not going to find a job and they don’t even make the effort to look for a job because they know they will not be selected. Out of the young people when we interview them and ask them they say ‘but you know what is gonna happen…I am not the person they are looking for.’ We can from an area where when you say you come from Westbury you are excluded from being because…this is called one of the notorious areas. The once you say you are from Westbury you are immediately not selected for a job or something else

Tete also described race-based discrimination against Coloured people in employment and that Coloured people found it difficult to secure jobs due to their racial status:

When we go we get disqualified because of the colour of our skin. We don’t have a Black surname; we don’t have a Black name and we are Coloured. And the Black counterpart get the job better than us even if we got the qualification, we got the experiences, the Black counterpart get that job even if they don’t have experience; because of the surname because of the colour of the skin and probably because of who they know. So I think Coloured are being affected now more than any one…it is I am sorry apartheid reverse. It is racism reversed. People need jobs; sometimes we need tenders to provide jobs. And we are told we are disqualified from it; why because of the colour of our skin. So that’s my feeling about it. I have had friends working in government, they actually got kicked out because they are Coloured.

Sunshine, a middle-aged female participant also described the unemployment of Coloured people in Westbury as a race-based problem:

For instance if you go for employment and they interview you and they see ‘OK you are Coloured’ and you don’t get employment. The Coloureds don’t get employment at this point in time. So we in the middle of all these crises that is happening around us, I don’t feel that the Coloureds they don’t see us. They really don’t see you Coloureds.

Isabel, a female participant in her twenties also reinforced the above interviewees by stating that Coloured job applicants experience difficulty when it comes to getting hired:

[W]when it comes to unemployment in our area it is a major major problem…I feel that there are opportunities for our people but they are not known of those opportunities [sic]...if it is known to them for these opportunities them submitting their CVs at the different companies or organizations then I think it would boil down to the matter of race erm that is why our people are not getting jobs…again I go back and I am gonna say it is a race thing it is definitely…it is a race thing as much as us as Coloureds we want it our people are hungry for whatever opportunities whatever jobs are available…we are not given that opportunity whatsoever

Probar, a male participant in his early twenties, pointed to racial profiling against Coloured people when it comes to job applications,

[S]o ya in terms of like job opportunities my people in the community feel like there are more positions open for those who are Black than for us; you know according to our government identification of races people feel like there is more opportunities for Black people and if you look at it is okay ya maybe it is because there is a higher percentage of Black people than the Coloured people in the workforce you know if you look at it like that. So we look at it as Black people are ruling so they gonna lookout for their own people that how people…They don’t tell you which races they want but how they select the people give applications you see. They will maybe choose maybe about five percent Coloureds, sixty percent Blacks, two percent Indian, for example one percent Chinese.

Vinzo, also suggested that Coloured people experienced discrimination in employment based on their racial identity,

I know that quite a few Coloureds I would put it, not trying to make a race issues but not a lot of Coloured get employed…you must either have a Black surname or you must be able to speak the language, their language to get a job and because…

Chey Steyn, a middle aged female participant, related her experiences with racial discrimination in her job applications. She noted that in government institutions, race matters in hiring. She noted that she went to many interviews but she was not employed despite her extensive work experience. She attributed this experience to her Coloured racial identity and to not being Black enough to get the job.

Other interviewees also cited race-based discrimination against Coloured people in South Africa in the domain of service delivery and that Westbury received poor service delivery due to their racial background.

Perceived racial discrimination in service delivery

Participants also noted that poor service delivery in Westbury by the Black African-majority government was due to the racial status of the community and the favouritism showed to Black African South Africans over other racial groups in the country. As Probar said, ‘they don’t treat the people equally when it comes to service delivery you know.’

Felix also notes that poor service delivery in Westbury can be attributed to the racial background of Coloured people in the neighbourhood,

[I]f you are put in the ruling party or meant to be a governing body of the country of South Africa you are only going to cater to your race group…Then you not gonna be trusted because you are only going to cater to your race group. And I think that in itself answers the question of why is there this fear or…because what is happening is that the ruling party is only taking care of one group of people.

Vino also described service delivery problems in Westbury as a race-based issue because Coloured people were not Black enough:

…at the end of the day the areas are still underserviced whereby our councilors that we elected can’t even have a say in terms of making a change in our community because we are not the favourest of the government, the current government and we feel like step-children of the government as we speak, so to me opportunities, service delivery, is at an all-time low…so when we voted our current government into power, we as Westbury believed that there was no difference between Coloured, Indian, White or Black…we believed we were people that deserved to be serviced and deserved to have the ear of the government that we have put in power.

Tate compares service delivery in Black areas and Coloured areas by saying, ‘Look at our parks, our parks are run down. It is run down…But go to the Black communities look at how beautiful the places are...our places are run down…’ Jam also noted, ‘you just have to compare Soweto to Westbury…They build theatres there.’

Locious, a twenty eight year old male participant, also noted that the poor service delivery by the current government was based on the racial status of Westbury’s residents:

you see erm honestly speaking, service delivery is bad from our side now because we have got this thing now they say “Coloured people doesn’t make it in life.” …especially for me that is deep and strong point because within our community which is called Westbury when it comes to our infrastructure as you can see it is collapsing. We are having this stadium that they build here; the soccer grounds here it is now seven to eight years, it is sad; there is no proper seating, there is no changing rooms or toilets there is flat lights…

Pablo, a male participant in his late twenties explains that the present government provided adequate service delivery to areas inhabited by majority Black African but neglected Coloured areas:

Go to Soweto look at their parks...there is parks for the children there is a soccer field there is football grounds there is hockey grounds there is rugby grounds there is tennis courts there is parks there is libraries that have Wi-Fi, even Soweto. Just come to Westbury there is nothing… the place is not gonna be upgraded. It is not gonna be fixed..there is still not gonna be parks no soccer grounds…no tennis courts no fields for the children...for our generation, for our children, also, so go to the White areas you will see everything is spot on. Everything is magnificent. It is being maintained...the water is even being looked after there.

Other study participants also revealed that racial discrimination was also experienced in the area of political representation and that Coloured people in South Africa were not adequately represented in government and political decision making powers.

Perceived racial discrimination in political representation

Study participants also claimed that they were racially discriminated against in political representation under the Black African-majority current government. Pablo said that Coloured people in Westbury and nationally lack political decision-making powers,

[Y]ou see the government that is only Black people in the government. There is [sic] no Coloured people, there is no even White people in the government anymore. The Whites are voted out…since the Whites have been voted out everything has gone sideways. The Blacks just come to steal from themselves. Hence why there is [sic] no Coloured people in the government.

Probar also relates, ‘so we look at it as Black people are ruling so they gonna lookout for their own people…’ Another participant, Felix said that,

it is made more about race, it is made more about race and you hear of some examples of people saying ‘If you vote for a government that is not African in the sense of being Black African then your needs are not going to be met or your needs are not going to be catered to’…Then you not gonna be trusted because you are only going to cater to your race group. And I think that in itself answers the question of why is there this fear or…because what is happening is that the ruling party is only taking care of one group of people.

Jam also commented that Coloured South Africans did not obtain meaningful and adequate political representation:

in our nation majority rules so they represent us by force. Even if we vote it is like we are a little race. And they overpower us and you have to join them in order to go in there and make a change. But then they have their own agendas way before we even could think of creating our own party. If our own party comes together it is like a very small voice. You know what I am saying it is like they are the majority and they do whatever they like.

Vino also remarked that Coloured people in South Africa are excluded from political decicion making powers and representation:

Most of our Coloured people in our areas are being used as pawns within the political game whereby we never get a position of decision making…so when we voted our current government into power, we as Westbury believed that there was no difference between Coloured, Indian, White or Black. We believed we were people that deserved to be serviced and deserved to have the ear of the government that we have put in power.

Isabel’s perceptions of race-based exclusion of Coloured South Africans in politics aligned with the above participants and she suggested that Coloured people lacked any meaningful representation in the current Black African-majority government:

I think it is especially when it comes to our political parties. So certain political parties are for the race for their own people so it would be the EFF¹³ they would focus on Black people. I have never seen a White or Indian or Coloured amongst them but they are Black. ANC¹⁴ you would see here and there, there is different races but then again it is just the Black people that is being [inaudible] with certain political parties as I feel government wants to cater for everyone...but it is not happening…our voices are not being heard ya as Coloured people rather.

Other study interviewees also related that Coloured people in South Africa also faced race-based discrimination in the domain of education.

Perceived racial discrimination in education

Racial discrimination in the area of education was also narrated by other research participants who claimed that Coloured South Africans were discriminated against in education due to their racial background as Coloured. For example, Vino comments,

when we look at our school leavers, matriculants and guys who really qualify to go to university, we realized that us being an underserviced community; first of all 90% of these young people whose parents could not afford a university fee that had to be paid and 90% of them turned away from NESFAS due to various reasons why we don’t know but you know we feel that it is also part of being marginalized in terms of selection criteria whereby these young people once your surname predicts that you are either Colourd or White you are excluded from being funded…And if you look at universities today you can actually not even count the amount of Coloured people in universities; you don’t really see them there. It is not that these young people don’t want to be there it is just that they don’t have the means to be there. Yes I can’t say that all of them but some of them have really the drive to want to study further; but we also don’t have the support to help these young people get the university degree or study further

Jam also suggested that Coloured South Africans experienced racial discrimination in scholarship programs:

Those are things; we want to see bursaries, we want to see learnerships those have been given only to the so-called Black African people. And we as Coloureds get like the scraps you know what I am saying? It is not like equally spread.

Black people are also suffering

A few participants suggested that socioeconomic problems among Coloured South Africans should not be explained through the lens of racial discrimination because many Black people in South Africa are also struggling in their everyday life. For example, Locious commented that

Black people are suffering so much as Coloured people…the same process that is Blacks staying amongst us Coloured staying amongst us it is Indians and Whites all are going through the same thing…we just need to be neutral when we bring the Coloured topic…the Black government is not looking after the Black boy now. So how can we say as Coloured ‘only the Coloured is going through this thing?’…

Candice also commented that both Black and Coloured people in South Africa suffer under the current government:

I have been in Black communities and these Black people that are just suffering as much as we are suffering here you understand? So I won’t put it as a racism thing and I won’t be biased about it because everybody is suffering at this very moment. We can’t say it is a Coloured issue because you are Coloured, it is a White issue because you are White, it is a Black issue because you are Black you know. We are all suffering in this moment.

Jojo on the other hand emphasized that individual effort rather than racial identity determined success or failure for people in post-Apartheid South Africa:

Do what you need to get into the economy, do what you need to do to improve yourself, if you don’t do that then you are not going to get that…you must go study, you must do what you need to do to compete in the economy. Everyone is competing now…

Here, Jojo suggested that group-based racial discrimination did not dictate the life chances of people in post-Apartheid South Africa but the merit and hard work of individual citizens, in spite of their racial identity, shaped the quality of life of people in South Africa.

Discussion

This paper examined perceptions of racial discrimination of Coloured people in Westbury, Johannesburg, South Africa. Participants cited various domains in which racial discrimination operated such as in housing, employment, service delivery, political representation and education. But a few participants suggested that race was not always a factor in shaping the living conditions of people in South Africa and that Blacks and Coloureds both suffer.

Even though the post-Apartheid government re-classified Coloured people under the broader racial designation of ‘Black People’ in affirmative action documents, a majority of the participants cited racial discrimination against Coloured people by the Black African-majority government (Niekerk, 2019; Pirtle, 2021; Roux and Oyedemi, 2022). Here we can discern the contradiction between the official classifiers and how participants racially positioned themselves and how their racial status as Coloured negatively affected their living conditions.

Seeing through racial discrimination theory, the perceived everyday experiences of racial discrimination of a majority of the participants did not occur through overt institutional government or organizational policy (Blank et al., 2004). This is because officially Coloured people are categorized as a designated group for affirmative action (Pirtle, 2021). But racial discrimination might be operating through subtle forms of exclusion by people in government bureaucracy (Blank et al., 2004). For example, some participants mentioned that when applying for jobs, Coloured individuals were not selected by government bureaucrats due to their Coloured racial status; and this seems to be an example of a ‘subtle’ form of racial discrimination rather than overt forms embedded in law or policy (Blank et al., 2004).

Viewed through social exclusion theory, three interconnected structural forces appear to structure the condition of Coloured people in Westbury, namely legacies of historical racial exclusions (Guelke, 2005), the neo-liberal macro-economic order (Abramovitz and Zelnick, 2010; Fourie, 2022) and government neglect (Masuku and Jili, 2019). Centuries of institutional and entrenched racial exclusions of non-White social groups in South Africa have created intergenerational poverty and inequality leaving non-White peoples still in impoverished and disadvantaged conditions. On the contrary, many White people in South Africa have benefited from historical dispossessions and intergenerational wealth accumulations (Masuku et al., 2022). The post-Apartheid neoliberal macro-economic model has also negatively affected the socio-economic fate of millions of South Africans where redistributive justice is weak and past racial inequalities are still entrenched (Abramovitz and Zelnick, 2010). Government neglect in the form of corruption and poor service delivery is a third factor in that due attention has not been given to the impoverished sectors of the South African society by public officials and therefore public funds do not properly get allocated to affected populations to uplift their living conditions (Tapscott, 2017).

The everyday experiences of racial discrimination of the interviewees in Westbury contrasts with the extensive international literature on experiences of racial discrimination. Much of the literature on racial exclusion and discrimination suggest that Black, Brown and other non-White populations in White-dominant societies are the victims of White oppression and marginalization (e.g., Della, 2020; Dovchin, 2020; Gatwiri and Anderson, 2021; Hart, 2019; Wu and Finnsdottir, 2021). Contrary to such studies’ findings, many of the participants of this study commented that they suffered racial discrimination under the Black African- majority government.

The participants who described their racial position in South Africa as non-Black or as ‘not Black enough’ is consistent with the literature on Coloured people in post-South Africa. Scholars examining the perceptions and perspectives of Coloured people in post-Apartheid South Africa have noted that their research respondents described and conceptualized their racial position in post-Apartheid South Africa as ‘not Black enough’ (e.g., Adhikari, 2006; Erasmus, 2001; Niekerk, 2019; Pirtle, 2021; Roux and Oyedemi, 2022). In Apartheid era, Coloured South Africans were classified and regarded themselves as ‘not White enough’ due to the fact that Whites were in dominant socio-political position (Erasmus, 2001; Johnson, 2016; Niekerk, 2019; Roux and Oyedemi, 2022). In the post-Apartheid democratic dispensation, many view themselves racially excluded and as ‘not Black enough’ under Black African-majority government (e.g., Battersby, 2002; Kenny and Davids, 2022; Petrus and Uwah, 2022).

The literature on unemployment in South Africa suggests that the unemployment situation among the young people in Westbury appears to be part of a pervasive problem in South Africa (Marire, 2022; Pasara and Dunga, 2022). For example, research literature on unemployment in South Africa suggests that the problem of unemployment and poverty afflicts all of the racial groups in South Africa and emanates from the larger economic problem in the country (Marire, 2022). This is not to invalidate the perceptions of the study participants but to understand and interpret the unemployment issues in Westbury not only as an issue of racial discrimination but a microcosmic reflection of a large national structural problem (Marire, 2022; Pasara and Dunga, 2022).

Current literature even suggests that Black Africans are disproportionately affected by unemployment in South Africa than other racial groups (Wakefield et al., 2022). Housing problems and service delivery issues also afflict Black Africans in post-Apartheid South Africa. Recent scholarly work on housing notes that Black Africans experienced problems with housing shortages (Chatindiara et al., 2022). Other works also point to the chronic problem of service delivery among mostly Black Africans in South Africa (Karim and Baxter, 2022).

Those who claimed that race does not determine life chances in post-Apartheid South Africa suggested that hard work and individual merit mediate life chances rather than group-based racial exclusions; this perspective appears to be couched in colour-blind racial ideology (Vargas, 2014). Colour-blind racial ideology suggests that racial prejudice or racial discrimination do not exist and racial divisions are ignored or trivialized (Bloch et al., 2020; Vargas, 2014). Some scholars have argued that in post-Apartheid South Africa, ‘race remains very important in cultural and social terms, but no longer structures economic advantage and disadvantage’ (Seekings, 2008: 01). However, as many scholarly works in South Africa argue, racialization and race-based discrimination still exist in the post-Apartheid South African socio-political order (Erasmus, 2001; Maré, 2014; Niekerk, 2019; Roux and Oyedemi, 2022).

The narratives of many of the participants align with recent scholarship and media reports on the racial exclusion of Coloured people in post-Apartheid South Africa. For example, in recent studies, Coloured people in South Africa viewed themselves as ‘not Black enough’ and as racially excluded due to their racial status as Coloured people (e.g., Battersby, 2002; Kenny and Davids, 2022; Petrus and Uwah, 2022). Media reports have also documented protests by Coloured people in many parts of South Africa who claimed that they had been racially marginalized due to their racial status of not being Black enough (e.g. Okoye, 2018; Sapa, 2013).

Conclusion

This paper explored perceptions of racial discrimination of Coloured people in Westbury, South Africa. Participants claimed that Coloured people faced racial discrimination in various domains. Many of the participants commented that the Black African-majority government discriminated against Coloured people in post-Apartheid South Africa because Coloured South Africans were viewed as ‘not Black enough’. Others saw the condition of Coloured people in South Africa as part of a larger economic problem in South Africa affecting other groups as well. Much of the literature on racial discrimination suggests that Black, Brown and other non-White people experience racial discrimination by White people in White-majority societies, however, Coloured participants of this study noted that they experienced racial discrimination by a Black majority society. Even though the post-Apartheid South African government re-classified Coloured people as ‘Black People’ for racial redress, participants saw themselves as ‘not Black enough' and hence subjected to racial discrimination. I have argued that the experiences of Coloured people in Westbury should also be understood as manifestations of broader structural forces, namely legacies of historical racial exclusions, the neo-liberal macro-economic order and government neglect. Indeed, participants suggested that racial discrimination against Coloured objectively exists in South Africa, but their experiences should also be viewed alongside broader structural determinants.

The results could have implications beyond Westbury and for South Africa. The ways in which many Coloured participants complained about race-based discrimination in various areas could engender group-based racial tensions and mistrust and compromise South Africa’s nation building project and social cohesion.

The study has limitations in that it was based on interviews with fourteen participants from one neighbourhood and that it might not be generalizable to the entire Coloured communities across South Africa. Similar studies should be conducted in other parts of South Africa about Coloured people to find out if experiences of racial discrimination are also expressed by other Coloured people in other areas. Future work can also focus on perceptions of racial discrimination of other racial minorities in South Africa such as Indian South Africans.

Footnotes

Author’s note

I am a Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg. My research interests include race, ethnicity, migration, welfare and social development.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Amanuel Isak Tewolde

Notes

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