'I am African first' - South Africans of Indian descent

Questions of identity have been on the minds of many South Africans of Indian descent for many years.

But the topic became even more significant recently, as underlying tensions between communities boiled over during the violence and riots that gripped South Africa in July.

The BBC's Karnie Sharp, herself a descendent of indentured labourers who came to the country over 100 years ago, has been speaking to people from this community about how they identify - and how much it matters to them - in the latest episode of The Comb.

Those who lived through the apartheid era were burdened with the racial classification of non-white, and then labelled in different categories that aimed to define and separate people who weren’t white.

"I reject being called an Indian, because to be Indian means I'm from India, and the apartheid classification system very deliberately separated people into different groups," says Maganthrie Pillay.

But someone from a younger generation, Nivania Moodley, feels her identity is made up of both South African and Indian elements.

She told us: "It's a lot of South African culturally, and my nationality. But then there's also Indian from my family and ancestors and traditions."

Listen to the full episode here.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Maganthrie Pillay/Nivania Moodley