It is common in South Africa to divide the total population into four racial categories for the purposes of research or the explanation of demographic realities and/or socio-economic conditions in the country, and I follow this practice throughout the analysis reported in this book. As James and Lever (2000, 44) note: “The use of these categories is unavoidable given the fixity that they have come to acquire both in popular consciousness and official business.” The use of these racial terminologies, however, differs from the way racial categorization may be understood in other societies. It is therefore important to understand the historical development of these categories, especially the legal boundaries imposed on racial groups by the apartheid government.

The four racial groups are African, white, Coloured, and South Africans of Asian origin (Indian). These groups are also often referred to as population groups, ethnic groups (although this term usually refers to African subcategories such as Xhosa or Zulu), or national groups. The African majority has been known by European settlers by different names over time, such as “native,” “Bantu,” or “Black,” and some of these terminologies were later formalized by apartheid legislation. The Africans were the original inhabitants of the area now called South Africa and were descendants of Iron Age farmers speaking different variants of Bantu languages, spoken in sub-Saharan Africa, east of Cameroon (James and Lever2000, 44). Generally, I refer to these people as Africans or blacks.