South Africa Malay

The name South Africa Malay is perhaps something of a misnomer as it refers to the followers of the Islamic faith whose forefathers were brought to the South Africa as slaves from Malay Archipelago, over 300 years ago. South African Malays are mixed Malay, Indian, Sinhalese, Arab, Madagascar and Chinese origin.

Most Malays live in or around Cape Town in South Africa. From the 1920s onwards, the ‘Malay community, was constructed as a distinctive Afrikaans-speaking community close to, but not part of, the politically dominant white population.

Cape Town, South Africa

The Muslims of the Western Cape have been constructed as members of a larger Malay diaspora. In 1903 the South African Muslim Association was formed to promote the cause of more schools for nonwhite and Muslim socioeconomic interests.

However it obtained limited support from the clergy and was short-lived. Its successor, the South African Malay Association of Muhammad Gamiet, appealed to the Fremantle Education commission in 1910 that transmission of Islamic value and culture would be the primary objective for Muslims establishing their own schools.
South Africa Malay