Some Italian traders, such as Theresa Viglione,[2] were present in small numbers alongside the Boers, when they made their Great Trek towards the Transvaal and Natal, but only in the early 20th century did the Italians form a small community of about 5,000 people, concentrated in the major cities of the Union of South Africa.

The huge field that hosted them, Zonderwater (which means "without water"), a real prison-city, still exists and every year, in the month of November, the official ceremony of commemoration of the deceased takes place to honor the over 400 prisoners buried there.

[7] In the 1950s, the South African government began to favor the immigration of Italians, who settled mainly in the Cape Province.

Subsequently, with the beginning of Apartheid, a selected flow of Italians was promoted, also with the aim of increasing the white population in South Africa.

Those of Venetian origin number about 5,000, mainly residing in Johannesburg,[8] while the most numerous Italian regional communities are the southern ones.