How Chinese in South Africa became Black

This is a quote taken from a 2008 article in South China Morning Post.

How Chinese in Africa fought to be Black

"For decades they were the non-people: ethnic Chinese South Africans who were excluded from the privileges of white society under apartheid, but for whom democracy meant they were now too white to win compensation for years of discrimination.

A recent landmark court ruling has changed all that. Chinese citizens who lived under apartheid will be legally recognised as black, a decision that will potentially give the tiny community access to billions of dollars in state contracts and a place in front of the queue for jobs.

The Pretoria High Court ruled on June 18 that the 10,000 Chinese South Africans had suffered discrimination under white rule, which ended in 1994, and were therefore entitled to the same affirmative-action policies designed to fast-track blacks into the higher ranks of the economy.

'I wanted to right the wrongs of the past,' says Patrick Chong, chairman of the Chinese Association of South Africa, the organisation that sought the legal action. 'It's important to me that people realise that Chinese people were very much part of the oppressed during the apartheid years. We were not part of the oppressors.'

The ruling will not affect the estimated 100,000 Chinese who have moved to the country since 1994.