South African Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

South Africa lies at the southern tip of Africa and is known as the rainbow nation for its many peoples, languages and cultures. It has many official languages, including English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa. South Africans in Birmingham include people of every background, who have come for work, study and family.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 1,629 people living in the city had been born in South Africa; and 530 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as South African.

Working for Birmingham

South African doctors, nurses, teachers, accountants, engineers and lawyers work across Birmingham, and many hold senior roles in the NHS, schools and businesses. South African sports coaches and physiotherapists are also well known in British sport.

Much of the work that keeps Birmingham moving happens out of sight: the night shift on a hospital ward, the early start on a building site, the plumber who fixes a boiler on a winter evening, the teaching assistant who helps a child learn to read. People from every community in the city do these jobs, and South African residents are part of that everyday effort to make Birmingham a better place to live.

Culture and community life

A braai, the South African barbecue, is the centre of many social gatherings, and biltong, bobotie and boerewors are much-loved tastes of home. Rugby and cricket are passions, and Freedom Day on 27 April, marking the first democratic election in 1994, is celebrated with pride.

Like so many of the communities that make up modern Birmingham, the South African community shows how a city can be home to many cultures at once. Its members are proud of where they come from, and just as proud to be Brummies.