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Greek South Africans
Έλληνες Νοτιοαφρικανοί

Greek Orthodox Saints Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Hillbrow, Johannesburg
Total population
120,000 (estimate) 50,000-60,000 (estimate) 120,000 (estimate, 1970) 70,000 (estimate, 1990) 40,000 (estimate, 2012) 35,000 (estimate, 2022)
Languages
South African English Afrikaans Greek
Religion
Greek Orthodox Church
Related ethnic groups
Mediterraneans, Turkish South Africans, Italian South Africans, Portuguese South Africans

Greek South Africans are South Africans of Greek ancestry from Greece and Cyprus.

Greek immigration to South Africa (at its highest in the 1960s, with 10,790 immigrants) peaked in 1965 (Damanakis 2003). It gradually began to decline in the 1970s, 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.

Religion

There are multiple Greek Orthodox Churches in South Africa. Some of these include:

• Cathedral of Sts. Constantine and Helen in Johannesburg
• Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St George in Cape Town
• Agia Barbara Chapel in Skeerpoort
• Greek Orthodox Church in Pretoria
• St Athanasios Church in Benoni
• Holy Church of St Seraphim of Sarof in Boksburg
• Greek Orthodox Church of St Bazil in Springs
• St John's Greek Orthodox Church in Germiston
• Saheti Church in Germiston
• Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary of Pantanassa in Melrose Estate
• Greek Orthodox Church in Alberton
• Greek Orthodox Church in Rondebosch
• Greek Orthodox Church of Archangels in George
• Orthodox Church of Saint Mary of Egypt in Robertson

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

1. Greeks around the Globe
2. "Greek Foreign Ministry". Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
3. ^ "The Turbulent Story of Greeks in South Africa". Retrieved 26 March 2023.
4. ^ "What is the future of Greek in South Africa? Language shift and maintenance in the Greek community of Johannesburg". Retrieved 26 March 2023.
5. "Where have all the Greeks gone? The story of Greeks in Africa". Retrieved 26 March 2023.
6. "Centers of Hellenism". South African Greeks. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

Further reading

• Mantzaris, E.A. (1999). "The Greeks in South Africa" (PDF). In Clogg, Richard (ed.). The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 120–136. ISBN 9780333600474. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2015.
• LacDuling & Barnes, Allistair & Lawrie (2012). "What is the future of Greek in South Africa? Language shift and maintenance in the Greek communinity of Johannesburg" (PDF). What is the future of Greek in South Africa?. pp. 159–172.

External links

• Hellenic Community of Cape Town
• https://www.saheti.co.za/
• Greeks in South Africa on AusGreekNet.com
• "Bilateral Relations Between Greece And South Africa". 17 July 2006. Archived from the original on 17 July 2006.

v t e Immigration to South Africa
Africa	Nigerians Somalis Zimbabweans
Asia	Chinese Filipinos Indians Japanese Jews Koreans Lebanese Pakistanis Turks
Europe	Bulgarians Dutch Germans Greeks Italians Norwegians Poles Portuguese Serbs
See also	Demographics of South Africa

v t e Greek diaspora (Omogenia)
Old Greek Diaspora	Asia Minor Greeks genocide population exchange pogrom expulsion massacre burning Egyptian Greeks expulsion Ukrainian Greeks evacuation Soviet Greeks deportation prison shootings
New Greek Diaspora	Greek Americans Boston Chicago New York City Greek Australians Melbourne Sydney Greek Canadians Toronto
Traditional areas of Greek settlement	Albania Bulgaria Caucasus Cyprus France Italy Malta North Macedonia Russia Turkey Ukraine
Europe	Austria Belgium Czechia Denmark France Germany Hungary Moldova Netherlands Poland Romania Serbia Sweden United Kingdom
Caucasus	Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia
Central Asia	Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan
Middle East	Israel Lebanon Syria United Arab Emirates
Africa	D.R. Congo Ethiopia South Africa Sudan South Sudan Zimbabwe
Latin America	Argentina Bahamas Brazil Chile Mexico Uruguay Venezuela
Asia-Pacific	New Zealand Philippines
Hellenization Greek colonization Hellenistic world

• Greece
• South Africa

• Greek diaspora in Africa
• Greek diaspora by country
• South African people of Greek descent
• European diaspora in South Africa