South Africans in the United Kingdom

The 2001 UK census recorded 140,201 South African-born people living in the UK. According to the 2011 UK census, 186,355 South African-born people were resident in England, 4,668 in Wales,[1] 10,607 in Scotland[2] and 1,847 in Northern Ireland.[3] The Office for National Statistics estimates that, in 2019, 252,000 UK residents were born in South Africa.[4]

Unlike the Republic of South Africa itself, the majority of the South African diaspora living in the United Kingdom are White South Africans. 84 per cent of South African-born residents of England and Wales at the time of the 2011 census identified as White, with 44 per cent identifying as White British. 6 per cent identified as Black, 5 per cent as Asian and 4 per cent as mixed ethnicity.[5]

The majority of these people are concentrated in largely affluent areas of London, the anecdotal evidence being that many are business people working in the City of London. There is, for instance, a South African-born cluster in the Canary Wharf area. In fact, London has the second-largest number of South African expatriates in the Western world. University towns such as: Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Bristol also show significant clusters of South African-born students. Many young people with British family ties have come over the years to work in the UK, including the public services.[6]

South African born British people have contributed heavily in sports, especially in Commonwealth sports such as Cricket and Rugby. 17 South African born players have played for the England national cricket team and over a dozen have played for both the England and Scotland national Rugby Union teams collectively. They have also contributed heavily in television and to at least 10 Olympic medals.