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 Cape Malay brides and bridesmaids inSouth Africa | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 325,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| South Africa (Western Cape,Gauteng) | |
| Languages | |
| Afrikaans,South African English HistoricallyMalay,Makassarese,Dutch,Arabic Afrikaans[2][3] | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Islam (Sunni)[4] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Javanese,Malays,Indians,Malagasy,Cape Dutch,Dutch,Cape Coloureds,Bugis,Makassar,Madura |
Cape Malays (Afrikaans:Kaapse Maleiers,کاپز ملیس inArabic script) also known asCape Muslims orMalays, are anethnic group inSouth Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and freeMuslims from different parts of the world, specifically modern-dayIndonesia (at that time known as theDutch East Indies) and other Southeast Asian countries, who lived at theCape duringDutch andBritish rule.
Although the earliest members of the community came from the Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, by the 19th century, the term "Malay" had come to include all practising Muslims at the Cape, regardless of their origins, most of whom wereAustronesian. As the community used theMalay language as alingua franca and for religious instruction, they collectively became known as Malays.
Cape Malays are mainly concentrated in and aroundCape Town, in the Western Cape. They have played a significant role in the spread ofIslam in South Africa, and their culinary traditions remain a key part ofSouth African cuisine. They have also contributed to the development ofAfrikaans as a written language, particularlyArabic Afrikaans. During theapartheid era, "Malay" was officially classified as a subcategory under theColoured racial group.
TheDutch East India Company established a colony at theCape of Good Hope (theDutch Cape Colony) as a resupply station for ships travelling between Europe and Asia, which developed into the city ofCape Town. The Dutch had also colonised theDutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia),[5] which formed a part of theDutch Empire for several centuries, andDutch Malacca,[6] which they held from 1641 until 1824.[7]
Islamic figures such asSheikh Yusuf, a Makassarese noble and scholar fromSulawesi, who resisted the company's rule in Southeast Asia, were exiled to South Africa. They were followed by slaves from other parts of Asia and Africa. Although it is not possible to accurately reconstruct the origins of slaves in the Cape, it has been estimated that roughly equal proportions ofMalagasies,Indians,Insulindians (Southeast Asians), and continental Africans were imported, with other estimates showing that the majority of slaves originated inMadagascar.[8]
Many "Indiaanen" and "Mohammedaanen" Muslimpolitical prisoners brought from Southeast Asia were imprisoned onRobben Island. Among these were Tuan Guru, first chiefimam in South Africa. Sheikh Madura was exiled in the 1740s and died on Robben Island; hiskramat (shrine) is still there today.[9]
Although the majority of slaves from Southeast Asia were already Muslims, along with many Indians, those from Madagascar and elsewhere in Africa were not. The slaves from Asia tended to work in semi-skilled and domestic roles, and they made up a disproportionate share of 18th-centurymanumissions, who subsequently settled inBo-Kaap, while those from elsewhere in Africa and Madagascar tended to work as farmhands and were not freed at the same rate.[8] In the latter part of the 18th century, conversions to Islam of rural non-Asian slaves increased due to a Dutch colonial law that encouraged owners to educate their slaves in Christianity, and following theirbaptism, to allow them to buy their freedom. This consequently resulted in slave owners, fearful of losing their slaves, not enforcing Christianity amongst them. This, in turn, allowed Islamicproselytisers to convert the slaves.[8]
There were also skilled Muslim labourers calledMardijkers from Southeast Asia who settled in the Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town.[10]
After theBritish took the Cape and began phasing out slavery in the first half of the 19th century, the newly freed non-Asian Muslim rural slaves moved to Cape Town, the only centre of Islamic faith in the region. The South and Southeast Asians constituted the Muslim establishment in the colony, and the newly freed slaves subsequently adopted theMalay language used by the Asians.[8] Thus, Malay was the initiallingua franca of Muslims, though they came from East Africa, Madagascar, and India as well as Indonesia, and established the moniker "Malay" for all Muslims at the Cape, irrespective of their geographic origins.[11] By the 19th century, the term was used to describe anyone at the Cape who was a practising Muslim,[12] despiteAfrikaans having overtaken Malay as the group'slingua franca.[4]
The community adopted Afrikaans as alingua franca to ease communication between Asian and non-Asian Muslims (who had adopted the Dutch used by their masters), and because the utility of Malay and theMalayo-Portuguese language were diminished due to the British ban on slave imports in 1808, reducing the need to communicate with newcomers. Asian and non-Asian Muslims interacted socially despite the initial linguistic differences and gradually blended into a single community.[8] In 1836, the British colonial authorities estimated that the Cape Malay population at the time was around 5,000 out of a total population for the Cape of 130,486.[13]
"Malay" was legally a subcategory of theColoured race group duringApartheid,[14][15] though the delineation of Malays and the remaining defined Coloured subgroups by government officials was often imprecise and subjective.[16]
The Cape Malays (Afrikaans:Kaapse Maleiers,کاپز ملیس inArabies script) also known as Cape Muslims[17] or simply Malays, are a Muslim community orethnic group in South Africa.[12]
The Cape Malay identity can be considered the product of a set of histories and communities as much as it is a definition of an ethnic group. Since many Cape Malay people have found their Muslim identity to be more salient than their "Malay" ancestry, in some contexts, they have been described as "Cape Malay", or "Malays", and others as "Cape Muslim" by people both inside and outside of the community.[17] Cape Malay ancestry includes people fromSouth[11] and Southeast Asia, Madagascar, andKhoekhoe descent. Later, Muslim male "Passenger Indian" migrants to the Cape married into the Cape Malay community, with their children being classified as Cape Malay.[18]
Muslim men in the Cape started wearing the Turkishfez after the arrival ofAbu Bakr Effendi, an imam sent from theOttoman Empire[19] at the request of theBritish Empire[20] to teach Islam in theCape Colony. At a time when most imams in the Cape were teaching theShafi'i school ofIslamic jurisprudence, Effendi was the first teacher of theHanafi school and establishedmadrassas (Islamic schools) in Cape Town. Effendi, in common with many Turkish Muslims, wore a distinctive red fez.[19][21] Many Cape Malay men continue to wear the red fez[22] (in particular theMalay choirs[23]), although black was also common, and more recently, other colours have become popular. The last fez-maker in Cape Town closed shop in March 2022; 76-year-old Gosain Samsodien had been making fezzes in his home factory inKensington for 25 years.[24]
It is estimated that there are[when?] about 166,000 people in Cape Town who could be described as Cape Malay, and about 10,000 inJohannesburg. The Malay Quarter of Cape Town is found onSignal Hill and is called theBo-Kaap.[citation needed]
Many Cape Malay people also lived inDistrict Six before they, among other South African people of diverse ethnicity, mainlyCape Coloureds, were forcefully removed from their homes by the apartheid government and redistributed intotownships on theCape Flats.[25]
The founders of the Cape Malay community were the first to bring Islam to South Africa. The community's culture and traditions have also left an impact that is felt to this day. The Muslim community in Cape Town remains large and has expanded significantly since its inception.[26][27]
A dialect ofMalay emerged among the enslaved community and later spread among colonial European residents of Cape Town between the 1780s and the 1930s. A unique dialect formed during this period from a substrate ofBetawi spoken in Batavia (present-dayJakarta), from which all major Dutch East India Company shipments took place, combined withTamil,Hindustani, andArabic influences. A significant number of this vocabulary has survived in theAfrikaanssociolect spoken by subsequent generations.[28]
| Original Malay | Cape equivalent, with attested Dutch ortography | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| berguru | banghoeroe | to study with someone |
| pergi | piki | to go |
| gunung | goeni | mountain |
| cambuk | sambok | horsewhip |
| jamban | djammang | toilet or washroom |
| ikan tongkol | katonkel | skipjack tuna |
| puasa | kewassa | to fast |
| kemparan | kaparrang | farm or work boots |
| tempat ludah | tamploera | spittoon |
| ubur-ubur | oeroer | jellyfish |
| penawar | panaar | antidote |
| minta maaf | tamaaf | sorry or apology |
Adaptations of traditional foods such asbredie,bobotie,sosaties, andkoeksisters are staples in many South African homes.Faldela Williams wrote three cookbooks, includingThe Cape Malay Cookbook, which became instrumental in preserving the cultural traditions of Cape Malay cuisine.[29][30]
The Cape Malay community developed a characteristic musical style. This includes a secularfolk song type of Dutch origin, known as thenederlandslied. The language and musical style of this genre reflects the history ofSouth African slavery, and the words and music often reflect sadness and other emotions related to the effect of enslavement. Thenederlandslied shows the influence of theArabesque style of singing and is unique in South Africa.[31]
The Silver Fez is the "Holy Grail" of the musical subculture. The contest involves thousands of musicians and a wide variety of tunes,[32][33] with all-male choirs from the Malay community competing for the prize. A 2009 documentary film directed byLloyd Ross (founder ofShifty Records,[33]) calledThe Silver Fez, focuses on anunderdog competing for the award.[31]
The annualCape Town Minstrel Carnival (formerly known as the Coon Carnival) is a deep-rooted Cape Malay cultural event; it incorporates the comic song, ormoppie (often also referred to asghoema songs), as well as thenederlandslied.[34] A barrel-shaped drum, called theghoema (also spelledghomma, or known asdhol), is also closely associated with Cape Malay music, along with other percussion instruments such as therebanna (rebana) andtamarien (tambourine). Stringed instruments include thera'king,gom-gom, andbesem (also known asskiffelbas).[35] Theghomma has been traditionally used mostly for marching or rhythmic songs known as theghommaliedjie, while the guitar is used for lyrical songs.[36]
Connections between Malaysians and South Africans improved whenSouth Africa rejoined the international community. This was welcomed by the Malaysian government and many others in the Southeast Asian region. Non-governmental organisations, such as the Federation of Malaysia Writers' Associations, have since set on linking up with the diasporic Cape Malay community.[37]
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