Abstract
Researchers have extensively studied self-identification among Coloured people in different places in post-Apartheid South Africa and finding varied self-identification patterns. Little is known about how Coloured people in Westbury, described as a Coloured area, in Johannesburg, self-identify in the post-Apartheid context. The aim of this paper is to explore how Coloured people in Westbury self-identify. This paper forms part of a larger study that explored how Coloured people in Westbury experienced racial marginalization in post-Apartheid South Africa. Eight male and six female participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Participants self-identified themselves in several ways. While some subscribed to the Apartheid-created Coloured classification, other participants identified as multiracial South African, South African, South African and Coloured, half-Black, mixed-race South African, and so-called Coloured. I argue that individuals in post-Apartheid South Africa are defining themselves in multiple and complex ways rather than rigidly subscribing to Apartheid racial categories. I also argue that historically race-coded areas in South Africa do not necessarily coincide with self-identification choices of their residents. Furthermore, even if Coloured South Africans are reclassified as ‘Black People’ in Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 (BEE), participants eschewed self-defining as Black People.