The Cape Malays: An Imagined Community in South Africa – A Bibliographical Essay

Abstract

1994 was indeed an eventful year for South Africans in general and for the South African Muslims in particular. During the early part of April 1994 the Muslims celebrated the tercentenary of Islam in South Africa, and towards the end of that month they went to the polls along with other South African citizens to participate in South Africa's first democratic elections. It was thus a memorable experience for the Muslim community who joyfully expressed their national and religious identity respectively.The South African Muslim community, particularly those who hailed from the province of the Western Cape, has always raised the question of identity. During the years of apartheid and before, the vast majority of them never identified themselves as South Africans since they rejected the legislated racial policies of the White minority regime. The Population Registration Act of 1950 divided the South Africans into four distinct categories, namely Whites, Indians, Africans, and Coloureds.