The distribution of white South Africans is fairly evenly spread. They currently comprise 7.7% of the total population and number 4,639,268, according to the 2022 mid-year population estimates. They are found in large numbers in practically every province in South Africa but always as a minority. They are high in concentration in large cities.
Historically, in the pre-1994 provinces, the Transvaal and Orange Free State were predominantly Afrikaans-speaking, Natal was mostly English-speaking and the Cape Province was largely mixed.
By province
Afrikaners are located in all parts of the nation, but in the former homelands such as Transkei and Natal, they are very few. English-speaking whites are generally concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and in major settlements in the Western and Eastern Cape. Other white groups (such as Portuguese and Germans) live mostly in Johannesburg or Cape Town. In the former homelands, the white populations are so tiny that even the slightest population can affect the percentages speaking Afrikaans or English. Of the largest cities in the country, Johannesburg, Durban, East London and Pietermaritzburg are largely English-speaking in the core, and Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Polokwane, Nelspruit, Witbank and Rustenburg are predominantly Afrikaans-speaking. Port Elizabeth is largely mixed.
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape has one of the lowest percentages of whites in South Africa, which is around 4.7%. They number just above 300,000. Similarly to the Limpopo Province, whites as a percent of the population varies around the Eastern Cape. The East, where the former black designated homelands of Transkei and Ciskei are found, have a high density of black people and only a small number of whites. For example, in the OR Tambo District Municipality, located in the former Transkei, only 0.1% of the 1.6 million inhabitants are white. On the other hand, in the west, Local Municipalities such as in the Cacadu District Municipality, contain white percentages exceeding 10%, with the highest being the Kouga Local Municipality, which stands at 25.4%. The largest white population centre is Port Elizabeth, which houses over half (170,000) of the Eastern Cape's white population. Other major white populations exist in East London, Grahamstown, Graaff-Reinet, and a number of smaller towns. The Eastern Cape has the most equal mix of both English- and Afrikaans-speaking whites. The geographic background of the province shows a mix of English and Afrikaans placenames, with no clear distinction between where Afrikaans- or English-speakers live.
Free State
The Afrikaners far outnumber English-speaking white people in the Free State (formerly called the Orange Free State) because British immigration to the region was very limited. The Afrikaners are predominant in practically all cities and rural areas, with the largest population around Bloemfontein, which holds an estimated 100,000 white people (or a third of the total in the province). The white percentage has recently rebounded after a prolonged decline. In 1880, white people were 45.7% of the total population, which had declined to 36.8% by 1904. Despite a long and steady decline throughout the 20th century, the 2007 Community Survey showed the white population of the Free State had increased from 8.8% to 9.6%. There could be issues with that figure as overall, the population of some municipalities decreased in population by up to 50%, which meant that the "missing" black people counted resulted in an increased white percentage. Major white populations are also found in cities such as Welkom, Kroonstad and Sasolburg.
Gauteng
Gauteng has a higher percentage (16%) and number (just under 2 million) of whites than any other provinces. Afrikaner whites tend to be gathered in and around Pretoria (with around 450,000 Afrikaners), the East and West Rand, and in many other cities and towns in Gauteng. English-speaking white South Africans are mostly found in central Gauteng: Johannesburg and the East Rand. Also, the Midvaal Local Municipality, in Gauteng, contains one of the highest percentage of whites in the country, which in 2007 stood at 35%.