They have already taken over much of the continent’s economy. Now they have gone one step farther. The Chinese in South Africa were officially declared “black” yesterday.

In a landmark ruling the Pretoria High Court accepted the Chinese as a “previously disadvantaged” group. This means that – at least in legal terms – Chinese South Africans will now be included in the definition of black people in legislation covering lucrative black economic empowerment (BEE) deals.

The controversial BEE policy, under which large companies have to surrender a percentage of their equity to black-run entities, is aimed at reversing decades of apartheid bias. It covers Africans, Coloureds (mixed-race people) and Indians but has been criticised widely as a politically correct form of theft by ruling party cronies.

Under white minority rule the Chinese were classified as Coloureds. In a decision that illustrated the difficulty of applying racial segregation Japanese people were given “honorary white” status – partly because they were wealthier and fewer in number than the Chinese.

When the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and the Employment Equity Act, the two BEE legislative pillars, were adopted, the Chinese were left out and claimed that they had been discriminated against twice – first by the whites, now by the blacks.

The ruling yesterday is the culmination of an eight-year struggle by the Chinese Association of South Africa (Casa) to obtain clarity from the Government as to the status of Chinese people since the end of white rule in 1994. Patric Chong, the chairman of Casa, said: “As Chinese South Africans we were officially classified as ‘Coloured’ and suffered under the same discriminatory laws prior to 1994. The logical inference was thus that Chinese South Africans would automatically qualify for the same benefits as the ‘Coloured’ group, post1994. This was not the case and Chinese South Africans suffered a second round of unfair discrimination.”

None of the government departments, cited as respondents in the case brought by CASA, opposed the application.

The first Chinese came to South Africa in the 1870s after gold was discovered. They remain one of the most politically marginalised and separate communities in South Africa today. Critics maintain that the community, which numbers several thousand, wanted to use a legal loophole to board the BEE bandwagon.

Suspicion of China has grown in the past decade as its influence on the continent has increased. Trade between Africa and China has risen to more than £20 billion since 2000. South Africa is China’s largest African trading partner. In 1990 bilateral trade was worth £750 million. Today it stands at more than £3 billion.

Many commentators fear it is a one-way relationship, in which China takes advantage of corrupt leaders to clinch deals that are not in the long-term interests of Africa. Others point to the willingness of China to sell arms and overlook human rights abuses.

The lawyers for Casa welcomed the court ruling, saying that for the first time in years Chinese South Africans had a firm legal status in society.

Chinese in South Africa

47 million Population of South Africa

20,000 Estimated number of people with Chinese origins

63,000 Chinese labourers who were sent to revive the South African gold mines in 1904

Sources: Colour, Confusion and Concessions: The History of the Chinese in South Africa by Melanie Yap and Dianne Leong Man

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