Italian South Africans (Italian: italo-sudafricani) are South African-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who immigrated to South Africa during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in South Africa.
The Italian community in South Africa is a unique diaspora, with a complex history, including roots in Italian colonial activities in Africa, and in World War II. This book looks at how the descendants of these early migrants take pride in being Italian and value the Italian language. They also ascribe much importance to their family roots, and have often created a romanticized image of Italy, mostly based on childhood vacation visits. Interdisciplinary by design, this book draws on insights from both cultural studies and psychology in order to shine a light on an important and under-studied diasporic community.
Italians are originally from the nation state of Italy. They speak Italian, a language based on Latin. There are probably about 30 dialects and regional Italian languages. The original settlers of the Italian Peninsula include Greeks, Etruscans, Latins, and Romans. Their land was named Italia by the ancient Greeks who once controlled the Mediterranean region. That changed in 146 BC when the emerging Roman Empire won the Third Punic War. The Roman Empire was foundational for Western civilization. Much of their technology, political structure and the Roman Catholic Church formed Western civilization. Even after the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire in 476AD, other empires either emerged from it, or emulated it. First there was the Byzantine Empire, which was the eastern half of the Roman Empire which lasted until 1453. The Renaissance was birthed in Northern Italian city states like Florence, Milan, Bologna, and Turin. These states were economically and culturally powerful. They even established universities. Yet unifying as a nation was problematic for centuries. There were the Napoleonic Wars and hostile popes who did not want Italian kings to rival their power. Finally in 1861, Italy became a nation state with Victor Emmanuel II as their first king. The deal was sealed when Italian troops took Rome in 1870-71. Rome was now the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Italy was one of the four victorious great powers in WWI. They annexed more territory and islands, and soon began to take colonies in Africa. Italy's defeat in WWII meant the loss of their short-lived colonies in Libya and Ethiopia. They moved from being a kingdom to being a republic in 1946. Throughout their long history, Italians have often moved elsewhere, mostly for economic reasons. Most of the Italians who left Italy did so between the 1880s and 1914 when the country was facing serious economic troubles.
Apart from a few Catholic missionaries, Italian immigration to South Africa was very limited until the end of the 19th century. In 1900, there were 200 Italians in the Cape Colony and before 1910 about 1,200 in the Transvaal which was hugely reduced after the support given by Camillo Ricchiardi's Italian Volunteer Legion to the Boer insurgents. Many were miners (gold prospectors), traders and builders.
Distribution of Italian population in South Africa.
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During the first half of 1941, the first prisoners of war also arrived, the number of which reached 90,000. The huge field that hosted them, Zonderwater (which means "without water"), a real prison-city, still exists and every year, in the month of November, the official ceremony of commemoration of the deceased takes place to honor the over 400 prisoners buried there.
At the end of the 1940s, many thousands of Italian ex-internees, who had established working relationships with South Africans during their imprisonment, decided to immigrate to South Africa. This was the case of the father of Italian South African runner Marcello Fiasconaro, an Italian pilot shot down during a bombing in Kenya and interned in Zonderwater.
In the 1950s, the South African government began to favor the immigration of Italians, who settled mainly in the Cape Province. In the early 1970s, there were over 40,000 Italians in South Africa, scattered throughout the provinces but concentrated in the main cities.
The Italian community consists of over 77,400 people (0.1-2% of South Africa's population), half of whom have Italian citizenship. Those of Venetian origin number about 5,000, mainly residing in Johannesburg, while the most numerous Italian regional communities are the southern ones.
The emphasis of this article falls on South African wartime attitudes towards Italy structured around the differentiation in attitudes between the Union government; the domestic sphere; and the armed forces. On 11 June 1940 the Union issued a declaration of war in response to Italy's new belligerent status. Attitudes towards Italy were thus altered from "unofficial" to being an "official" enemy of the Union. Less than a month later, Union soldiers embarked on their first campaign in East Africa and later North Africa. In early 1942 the fighting moved across the Mediterranean to Italy. On 8 September 1943, Italy surrendered to the Allies thus shifting Italy's domestic position from enemy to liberator. Thereafter, South Africans fought alongside anti-fascist Italian partisans against German occupation thus altering their relationship to comrades. Although the war ended on 8 May 1945, many Italian POWs interned in South Africa still awaited repatriation. Some remained in the country or returned and made South Africa their new place of residence, taking advantage of South Africa's acceptance of Italian nationals. Similarly, some South Africans formerly held in European POW camps took Italian wives and adopted a new culture as a consequence of the war. This article illustrates the changing South African attitudes towards Italy during the different phases of the war as well as the variation in attitudes between different factions in South African society.
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Zonderwater | Chapter 1: The Road to Zonderwater
On 3 September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. One day thereafter, the Drill Hall of the Active Citizen's Force (ACF) in Johannesburg seethed with activity, despite the fact that neither mobilisation orders nor orders permitting the ACF to accept volunteers had been issued. One such volunteer was an officer from the Transvaal Scottish, a colourful, flamboyant, one-armed, commercial artist, Eric "Scrubbs" Ponsoby Hartshorn.
Some members, mostly young Afrikaners from the Transvaal, wore brown or grey shirts with swastika armbands. They had the same anti-Jewish sentiments as the Nazis and their meetings turned into riots, usually involving quart bottles of beer. As the young men became more intoxicated they talked in a derogatory fashion against the Jews. The rowdy men asked the crowd: "Where do you think your daughters are tonight? They're sleeping with Jews in the back of their cars." This was part of the general mood.
The overwhelming majority of "non-white" South Africans had little concern for the war - it was considered a far distant white man's war. During a campaign to encourage support for the war effort, the following question was raised at a meeting by a speaker in New Brighton, a black township in the Eastern Cape: Why should we fight for you? We fought for you in the Boer War and you betrayed us to the Dutch. We fought for you in [the] last war. We died in France, in East Africa ... and when it was over, did anyone care about us? What have we to fight for?
Meanwhile, foreign citizens of the Axis powers residing in the Union had their own problems. Some German nationals were recalled to the Third Reich, others faced internment, ordered by the Union government, as enemy aliens.
Many members of the Italian community who resided in South Africa found themselves in an awkward position due to Rome's alliance with Berlin. The offices of the Department of the Interior were overwhelmed by Italian inhabitants desperately applying for South African citizenship.
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Despite Italy's declaration of non-belligerence at the time of the outbreak of the war, many Italians in the Union lived in a period of uncertainty, anxiety and restless suspicion.
The country was divided into different camps on the issue of involvement in the war, but despite these fractured domestic sentiments, the Union declared war on Germany. This division existed not only in the political, but also in the domestic sphere for the remainder of the war. To better understand government sentiments towards Italy at this time, the formation of alliances in Europe needs to be considered.
Cartoons, such as Figure 1, often appeared in newspapers with caricatures of Mussolini and Hitler together.
After Rome's invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935 and Albania in April 1939, Mussolini announced that Italy was not prepared for war; Italy only physically participated in WWII from 1940. The period before this date was spent, much as in the Union, in preparing for war. Consequently, albeit that Italy did not issue a declaration of war until 1940, it was still considered to be Nazi Germany's less organised fascist cousin.
One cannot generalize about the jobs held by Italians in diaspora. Though Diaspora Italians integrate aspects of their new culture, they maintain many characteristics from Italy. Italians are very social, and they love good food. No matter where they move, people welcome the addition of Italian food to their diet. Italians love well-prepared food. Family life is very important to Italians no matter where they live. Their families are smaller, and women have more rights than they did in decades past. They respect and care for the elderly; the younger generations are expected to care for the needs of retired relatives. If at all possible, Italians have contact with their extended families.
Over 90% of Italians profess to be Catholic, but less than 1% attend church more than three times a year, including weddings and funerals. Secularism and the occult are growing among Italians.
Italy's Contemporary Engagement with Africa
Italy has been described as a “relative latecomer” in African policy, depicted by a scarce diplomatic and political engagement. Between 1985 and 2014, no Italian Prime Minister traveled to attend bilateral meetings with African counterparts and the country’s diplomatic network counted just 19 embassies and three cultural institutes in the sub-Saharan region. Therefore, in the postcolonial period, the relationship between Rome and the continent was mainly represented by the activities of non-state actors and initiatives such as those of humanitarian NGOs, the Catholic missions carried out by the Community of Sant’Egidio and the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, as well as the business assets of multinational companies like ENI (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi - National Entity for hydrocarbon), ENEL (Ente Nazionale per l’energia elettrica - National Entity for electric power), Fincantieri and Leonardo, the latter two being both industrial groups specialized respectively on shipbuilding and defense and security technology. These actors continue to operate in Africa, contributing, along with the exaggerated rhetoric of « Italians good people, » to portray Italy’s agenda on the continent as free from hidden geopolitical interests and mainly driven by humanitarian and development goals.
The historical relationships between Italy and three African countries in particular -Somalia, Mozambique, and Libya- can provide nuanced lessons for contemporary Italian foreign policy. Under Italian socialist PM Bettino Craxi in the 1980s, the Italy-Somalia partnership serves as a blueprint. Italy invested significantly in Somalia’s development, channeling 310 billion lire (700 million dollars) between 1981 and 1984, making Somalia the highest recipient of Italian foreign aid in Africa at the time. Today, the current Italian government seeks to emulate this impactful activism to regain political importance. Craxi’s strategy promoted economic development as a stabilizing force, leveraged historical ties for deeper engagement, and maintained strategic interests in the Horn of Africa amidst Cold War tensions. Unlike other Western countries that limited their involvement to short-term humanitarian aid, Italy opted for an integrated approach, strengthening local governance structures for long-term developmental impacts.
In the 1990s, the Community of Sant’Egidio’s mediation in Mozambique was a notable chapter in Italy’s foreign policy, successfully facilitating the 1992 peace accord between Frelimo and Renamo. This intervention, involving extensive negotiations that began unofficially in 1986, demonstrated the efficacy of quiet diplomacy.
The Italy-Libya partnership, exemplified by the 2010 Friendship Treaty, reflects a strategic dimension of Italy’s foreign policy in Africa, emphasizing economic interests and geopolitical stability. This partnership evolved from historical ties and Italy’s colonial legacy, transitioning towards a cooperative relationship underpinned by significant economic interdependencies, particularly in the energy sectors. Libya became Italy’s foremost oil supplier and a crucial source of natural gas, facilitated by geographical proximity and historical linkages. The partnership aimed to stabilize the region by mitigating migration flows and enhancing maritime security. Economic ties also extended to infrastructure projects, with Italian firms playing significant roles in Libya.
Starting from the mid-2010s, Italy’s new activism on the African continent marked the beginning of a transformation of its foreign policy towards the continent. Since 2014 however, Italy has increasingly framed its foreign policy through the lens of the « enlarged Mediterranean, » with Africa emerging as an essential partner in safeguarding its national strategic interests.
Italy’s contemporary interventionism on the African continent is relatively new in its structured, continent-wide form, marking a shift away from predominantly bilateral relations. This transformation has been accompanied by a rhetoric that emphasizes respect, disinterest in geopolitical dominance, and a values-driven approach. Italy has sought to present itself as a more trusted ally, capitalizing on its late entry into the colonial race and lack of historical unity to project an image of being less threatening compared to other European powers, espatially France.
The Mattei Plan
A crucial element in Italy’s contemporary African policy is the Mattei Plan, which promises a new, non-exploitative model of cooperation. Rooted in the legacy of Enrico Mattei, founder of the Italian energy company ENI, the plan emphasizes a « win-win » strategy that contrasts with traditional European exploitation of African resources.
The two-day Italy-Africa Summit 2024 is the first meeting between Italian and African representatives not held at ministerial level. The attendance of 21 African Heads of State and Government, in addition to Foreign Ministers and top representatives of international organizations such the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank, IMF and OECD, is to be considered one of the determining factors of the summit’s political success.
Prime Minister Meloni has been clear about it during both her welcome and closing speeches: enough with the narrative about Africa being a poor continent and the logic of strategic interests pursued behind the cover of development and humanitarian aid. Rome has concrete domestic and international reasons for seeking solid relations with Africa, presented as rich in business and investment opportunities. This is why the new cooperation model aims at being built on an equal, non-predatory basis so that it can be the beginning of a long-term partnership.
With a starting fund of (just) “5.5 billion euros in grants, credits or guarantees”, the Mattei Plan is therefore aimed mainly at controlling migratory flows and finding alternative energy suppliers through what it is portrayed as a win-win collaboration in the framework of the continent’s industrial, infrastructural and technological development.
Changing Migration Policies
Italian politics has fluctuated between welcoming and securitarian positions regarding African migration, with most parties linking migration to security concerns. Before 2011, migration numbers were relatively low, and Berlusconi’s government, despite passing the Bossi-Fini law in 2002-which criminalized illegal immigration-projected Italy as a Catholic, welcoming country. However, the rise in migration post-2011 shifted the narrative.
Under Giorgia Meloni’s leadership, the approach became more pragmatic. Her government opted to prolong the process of NGO landings by assigning northern Italian ports to delay disembarkation. However, this tactic did little to curb the significant resurgence in migrant arrivals. That is the reason why Mrs Meloni is touting a transalpine ‘model’, having signed an agreement with Tirana at the end of 2023 to outsource asylum applications. Two detention centers have been built in Albania, at Italy’s expense, with a capacity of 3,000 people.
| Decade | Key Events | Impact on Italian Community |
|---|---|---|
| Late 19th Century | Limited Italian immigration, mostly missionaries. | Small Italian presence in Cape Colony and Transvaal. |
| Early 20th Century | Italian Volunteer Legion supports Boer insurgents. | Reduction in Italian population in Transvaal. |
| 1940s | Arrival of Italian prisoners of war (POWs). | Establishment of Zonderwater POW camp. |
| Post-WWII | Many ex-POWs immigrate to South Africa. | Increase in Italian population, integration into South African society. |
| 1950s-1970s | South African government favors Italian immigration. | Settlement of Italians mainly in Cape Province, community grows to over 40,000. |
| Present | Italian community consists of over 77,400 people. | Diverse Italian presence, maintaining cultural heritage. |
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