Portuguese South Africans ( pt, luso-sul-africanos) are South Africans of Portuguese ancestry. The exact figure of how many people in South Africa are Portuguese or of Portuguese descent are not accurately known as many people who arrived during the pre-1994 era quickly assimilated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

speaking

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n communities. There was likely also an undercount of immigrants, especially from

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

History

The

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

explored the coasts of

in the late 15th century, and nominally claimed them as their own with the erecting of '' padrões'' (large stone cross inscribed with the

coat of arms of Portugal The coat of arms of Portugal is the main heraldic insignia of Portugal. The present model was officially adopted on 30 June 1911, along with the present model of the Flag of Portugal. It is based on the coat of arms used by the Portuguese Kingdo ...

placed there as part of a

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

Bartolomeu Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( 1450 – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lay in the o ...

did so in 1486, and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

recorded a sighting of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

in 1497, en route to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The early 20th century witnessed a trickle of emigrants from

whose numbers greatly increased in the decades following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Madeiran immigrants, who are traditionally associated with horticulture and commerce, form the largest group within South Africa's Portuguese community. The largest single event of Portuguese settlement occurred when the former

Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

became independent in 1975. Most of them went to Portugal and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, but a significant number of black and white refugees from

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

made their way to South Africa. Their arrival made South Africa the home of the largest Portuguese African population, increasing it from about 49,000, to 300,000.

Politics and economics

The Portuguese South African community is highly active within the South African community, both politically and economically. Notable members include

Maria Ramos Maria Ramos (born 1959) is a South African businesswoman, banker and corporate executive who has been serving the chairperson of AngloGold Ashanti since 2020. She previously served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Absa Group Limited. Prior to ...

who was the former director general of South Africa's National Treasury. She is currently the Group CEO of ABSA, one of South Africa's largest financial services companies. Other Portuguese involvement within the business community includes companies like Mercantile Bank. The community is also actively involved in investment activities with other Southern African countries like

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

. Socially, the Portuguese community have held an annual festival called Lusito Land (the second largest festival in South Africa).

Religion

Most Portuguese, like other South Africans, are

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Most of them are

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, although there is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minority.

Sports

Football

The most popular sport with Portuguese South Africans is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. There are many football clubs in South Africa that are of Portuguese origin. One example was the professional football club

Vasco Da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

which dissolved in 2016. Football is a favourite pastime for Portuguese youth in South Africa, and many of them tend to join amateur and professional football clubs in the country.

Geography

Due to Portuguese exploration and navigation many points of interest on the South African coast have Portuguese names. *

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

* Benguela Current *

Agulhas Current The Agulhas Current () is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary curren ...

*Dias Cross *Da Gama Cross *

L'Agulhas L'Agulhas is the most southern coastal village and holiday resort in South Africa, located within the Cape Agulhas Local Municipality at the southernmost tip of the African mainland. It is situated next to the town of Struisbaai and about south ...

Agulhas National Park The Agulhas National Park is a South African national park located in the Agulhas Plain in the southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, about south-east of Cape Town. The park stretches along the coastal plain between the towns of Gansbaai a ...

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Mu ...

St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal St Lucia is a settlement in Umkhanyakude District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The small town is mainly a hub for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. History Evidence of early humans living in the caves up high in the ...

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located in the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour c ...

* St. Croix Island *

St Helena Bay Saint Helena Bay ( af, St. Helenabaai) is a settlement in West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Nicknamed by locals as ''Agterbaai'',''St Helena Bay.'' CapeWestCoast.org. http://www.capewestcoast.org/reg ...

Notable Portuguese South Africans

* João Albasini (1813–1888) * Manuel de Freitas, Member of Parliament, Shadow Minister of Tourism since 2019, Shadow Minister of Transport from 2014 to 2019, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs from 2012 to 2014, Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport from 2009 to 2012, previously councillor in the City of Johannesburg and also a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. *

Trevor Manuel Trevor Andrew Manuel (born 31 January 1956) is a South African politician who served in the government of South Africa as Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009, during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, and ...

, former Minister of Finance and Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission *

, speaker of the Johannesburg City Council * Jeannie de Gouveia (better known as Jeannie D), TV presenter and media personality * Roger De Sá, former footballer and coach * Edgar Fernando Ferreira Maia (Born 1986), Blade master in martial arts * Vanessa Do Céu Carreira,

Miss South Africa Miss South Africa is a national beauty pageant in South Africa that selects South African representatives to compete in two of the Big Four international beauty pageants, Miss World and Miss Universe, and also selects another representative ...

2001 * Mike dos Santos, strategist, dancer and writer * Fernando Duarte, co-founder of

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...

* Sonia Esgueira, actress and writer of the satirical comedies "Porra" and "Porralicious" * Manny Fernandes, professional boxing promoter * Frank Pereira, former footballer *

, Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Africa Group Limited *

Marilyn Ramos Marilyn Ramos (born 16 February 1991) is a South African designer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss South Africa 2012, becoming the official representative of her country to Miss Universe 2013 and Miss World 2013 ...

, Miss South Africa 2012 *

Paula Reto Paula Reto (born 3 May 1990) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Amateur career Reto played field hockey and ran track in her youth and did not start playing golf until 2005. She played with the Purdue Boilermakers ...

, professional golfer * João Silva, photographer * Lee Cole, singer and songwriter * Colonel

Ignatius Ferreira Colonel Ignatius Ferreira, (5 July 1840, Grahamstown, Cape Colony – 13 May 1921, Kranspoort, Louis Trichardt district, Transvaal) was a South African soldier, fortune hunter, miner and farmer of Portuguese descent. He is more commonly kno ...

, played a prominent role in the development of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

* Shevon Pereira, Miss South Africa 2020 Top 35 and

Miss South Africa 2022 Miss South Africa 2022, the 64th edition of the Miss South Africa pageant was held on Saturday, August 13, 2022, at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria. Incumbent winner, Lalela Mswane of KwaZulu-Natal crowned Ndavi Nokeri of Limpopo as her successor. ...

Top 30. * Savannah de Almeida,

Miss South Africa 2021 Miss South Africa 2021 was the 63rd edition of the Miss South Africa pageant. It was held on 16 October 2021 at the Grand West Arena, Cape Town. Shudufhadzo Musida crowned Lalela Mswane as her successor at the end of the event. She went on to r ...

top 35 * Costa Titch,

amapiano Amapiano ( Zulu for "the pianos") is a style of house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid 2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive basslines. It is distinguished by high-pit ...

artist *

Manuel Escórcio Manuel Escórcio is a South African tenor who performs in Afrikaans, English and Portuguese. Escórcio was born in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique but started his musical career at Helderberg College in Somerset-West, South Africa when he was 16 ...

a South African tenor

References

External links

The Portuguese in South Africa
{{authority control Ethnic groups in South Africa Portuguese diaspora in Africa Portuguese