Greek South Africans are South Africans of Greek ancestry from Greece and Cyprus.
Greek immigration to South Africa (at its highest in the 60s, with 10 790 immigrants) peaked in 1965 (Damanakis 2003). It gradually began to decline in the 70s and after 1994 many Greeks returned to Greece to retire, or because they harboured fears about the changing political situation in South Africa. The community has since decreased from an estimated 120,000 to 40,000.
Notable people
George Bizos – human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid; noted for representing Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia Trial Demetri Catrakilis – professional rugby union player for Harlequins Stanley Christodoulou – international boxing judge and referee Ivan Gazidis – Chief Executive of AC Milan George Koumantarakis – former football player Nic Pothas – former professional cricketer Anastasia Tsichlas – football executive Dimitri Tsafendas – assassin of South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, who is commonly regarded as the architect of apartheid John Costa (b. 1868 – d. 1932) also known as Ioannis Papakostas was a Greek revolutionary and veteran of the Second Boer War Xen Balaskas (b. 1910 – d. 1994) - cricketer Stelio Savante – actor, producer and screenwriter Penny Siopis – artist Angelique Rockas – actress and theatre practitioner, pioneer of multi-racial theatre in London Panagiotis Retsos – footballer John Kongos – musician Costa Titch (b. 1995 – d. 2023) - rapper
See also
Greek diaspora
Greece–South Africa relations
White South Africans
References
Further reading
External links
Hellenic Community of Cape Town
https://www.saheti.co.za/
Greeks in South Africa on AusGreekNet.com
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Greek diaspora in Africa
South Africa
Ethnic groups in South Africa
Greek
