[4] As a consequence of the policies of apartheid, Indian (synonymous with Asian)[5][6][7] is regarded as a race group in South Africa.

[8][9] During the colonial era, Indians were accorded the same subordinate status in South African society as Blacks were by the white minority, which held the vast majority of political power.

[10][11] During the period of apartheid from 1948 to 1994, Indian South Africans were legally classified as being a separate racial group.

Some Indian South Africans believed that these terms were improvements on the negatively defined identity of "Non-White", which was their previous status.

[citation needed] During the most intense period of segregation and apartheid, "Indian", "Coloured" and "Malay" group identities controlled numerous aspects of daily life, including where a classified person was permitted to live and study.

[12] The "Indian" racial identity was created by both internal political movements that sought to consolidate support amongst the different Indian ethnicities in the face of discrimination; and the Apartheid government which strictly codified the physical and cultural boundaries between "race groups", and encouraged these group identities.

[8] As a result of these Apartheid rules, South Africans continue to identify themselves, and informally classify each other as, "blacks", "whites", "Coloureds" and "Indians".

[16][17] The indentured labourers tended to speak Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and the Awadhi dialect of Hindi,[18] and the majority were Hindu with Muslim and Christian minorities.

These immigrant Indians who became traders were from varying religious backgrounds, namely Hindu and Muslims but largely from Gujarat (including Memons and Surtis),[23] later joined by Konkanis, and Urdu speakers from Uttar Pradesh.

[13][15] This organised resistance led to the unification of disparate groups of South African Indians for the first time.

[22] Indians were banned from working in the mining industry, and areas were set aside for coolie locations in various towns in the Transvaal.

[26] Passenger Indians who moved to the Cape Colony, although facing petty discrimination, were generally well treated, could own property, could vote, and could trade freely.

[27] Efforts to encourage Indians to repatriate to India included financial incentives, as well as discriminatory treatment.

Before that, Indian students had to take a ferry to Salisbury Island's abandoned prison, which served as their university.

The theory was that the Indian minority could be allowed limited rights, but the Black majority were to become citizens of independent homelands.

Many Indians played an important role in the anti-apartheid struggle and some occupied positions of power in post-apartheid South Africa.

In post-apartheid South Africa, Indians have maintained prominent positions in the ruling African National Congress.

Amichand Rajbansi's Minority Front (formerly the National People's Party) retained some support in its strongholds.

Among these post-apartheid immigrants, the controversial Gupta family from India, managed to acquire vast political and economic influence in a short time, under the reign of former President Jacob Zuma.

[40][41][42][43][44] Traders from India may have been active on the eastern coast of South Africa for centuries, including before the Dutch settlement of the Cape Colony in 1652.

[45] A significant proportion of slaves imported into the Cape were from parts of India (which included present-day Bangladesh), Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

[49] An early Indian to settle in South Africa was Kalaga Prabhu, a Goud Saraswat Brahmin merchant from Cochin.

[53] The majority of South African Muslims are Indian or belong to the multi-ethnic community in the Western Cape.

Until 1991, state government schools taught in English, choosing one of five Indian languages, namely Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu to be taken as non-examination subjects.

The result is a variety of English which mixes features of Indian, South African, Standard British, and other influences.

These are broadcast both by the DStv satellite television service, which carries Zee TV, B4U, NDTV, and a Hindi-language Sony channel.

Pay television channel M-Net also had additional programming aimed at Indians called East Net.

[76] The following table shows the distribution of Asian and Indian people by province, according to the South African National Census of 2022:[78]