[2] Like the Sri Lanka Kaffirs, the name Cafres is derived from the Arabic word for infidels, kafir, which in East Africa came to mean Black people specifically.
It means "any individual whose phenotype goes back more or less to African/Malagasy origins, as described by the sociologist Paul Mayoka in his essay "The image of the cafre".
[1] Brought from mainland Africa and Madagascar to work the sugar plantations; these were the first slaves to be introduced to the Mascarene Islands.
[2] Most trace their roots to Madagascar and East Africa (Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia) although some descended from runaways from European pirate ships.
[1] Due to the loose definition of the term, the rising number of second generation Muslim Comorians and Mahorians are also considered Cafres.