South Africa is a Christian majority nation with Islam being a minority religion, practised by roughly 1.6% of the total population. Islam in South Africa has grown in three different phases. The first phase brought the earliest Muslims as part of the involuntary migration of slaves, artisans, political prisoners, and political exiles from the Dutch East Indies to the Cape Colony from 1652 to 1800. The second phase was the arrival of indentured labourers from British India to work in the sugar-cane fields in Natal from 1860 to 1911. Of the approximately 176,000 Indians of all faiths who were transported to the Natal province, almost 7–10% of the first shipment were Muslims.
Vincent Ebrahim is a South African actor and comedian. He is known for portraying the roles of Ashwin in the BBC later Sky One comedy series The Kumars at No. 42, pub landlord Bobby in the BBC One comedy series After You've Gone (2007–2008), Robert "Big Bob" Gupta in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2014) and Hashim Elamin in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2021).
Olatunde Olateju Olaolorun "O-T" Fagbenle is an English actor, writer, and director. He has appeared in several films, stage, and television productions. He is best known for his role as Lucas Bankole in The Handmaid’s Tale (2017–2025), for which he received an Emmy nomination, and his portrayal of Barack Obama in The First Lady (2022).
Ebrahim Desai was a South African Muslim scholar and jurist who established the Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah, the Askimam fatawa portal and served as the senior professor of hadith at Madrasah In'aamiyyah. He was an alumnus of Jamiah Islamiah Talimuddin Dabhel and ranked among The 500 Most Influential Muslims. He authored books including Commentary on Qaseedah Burdah, Introduction to Hadīth and Introduction to Islamic Commerce.
Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the largest ethnically Indian-populated cities outside of India.
Footskating 101 is a 2007 independently produced, South African comedy film.
John Vlismas is a South African stand-up comedian, academic and DEI strategist.
The Meerkats, also known as Meerkats: The Movie, is a feature-length 2008 British wildlife fiction film which anthropomorphises the daily struggles of a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It was produced by BBC Films, and filmed by the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit. It is the debut directorial feature of James Honeyborne, previously a producer of natural history programmes for television. The worldwide premiere was held at the Dinard Film Festival, France in October 2008, expanding to a wide release the following week. The film was released in 2009, on 7 August in the UK. The film was dedicated to Paul Newman, the narrator of the film, who died in 2008, shortly before this film was released making it his final film role.
Imran Yusuf is a Kenyan-born British stand-up comedian of Indian Konkani Muslim descent, who has appeared on various British radio and TV comedy shows.
Hebburn is a BBC television comedy series set in Hebburn in Tyne & Wear. The six-part series commenced broadcasting on BBC Two on 18 October 2012 starring Kimberley Nixon and Chris Ramsey. The show is written by Jason Cook and Graham Duff and follows the recently wedded couple Jack and Sarah alongside Jack's family.
Riaad Moosa is a South African comedian, actor and doctor.
Joey Franklin Bragg is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role as Joey Rooney in the Disney Channel sitcom Liv and Maddie (2013–2017).
Ebrahim Moosa is the Mirza Family Professor of Islamic Thought & Muslim Societies at the University of Notre Dame with appointments in the Department of History and in the Kroc Institute for International Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs. He is co-director of the Contending Modernities program at Notre Dame. He was previously Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies at Duke University. He is considered a leading scholar of contemporary Muslim thought. Moosa has been named as one of the top 500 Influential Muslims in the World.
Athlone High School is a public, co-educational high school in Silvertown, Athlone, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Vinette Ebrahim is a South African actress and playwright known for her role as Charmaine Meintjies in the SABC 2 soap opera 7de Laan. She is the sister of actor Vincent Ebrahim.
Craig William Macneill is an American film director, writer, and editor. His feature film Lizzie, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, premiered in the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film was acquired by Roadside Attractions and Saban Films and released theatrically in the fall of 2018. Macneill's first feature film, The Boy, premiered in the narrative competition at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and which was also based on a previous short film he co-wrote, directed, and edited titled Henley, which screened in competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the grand jury prize for "Best Short Film" at the Gen Art Film Festival and Clint Eastwood’s Carmel Film and Arts Film Festival. In 2016.
Ronnie Apteker is a South African internet pioneer, writer, and film producer.
Barakat is a 2020 South African family drama film directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon. It is the first Afrikaans-language Muslim feature film produced in South Africa. The film stars Vinette Ebrahim in the lead role and Joey Rasdien, Mortimer Williams, Quanita Adams and Keeno Lee Hector in supportive roles.
The Umbrella Men is a 2022 South African crime comedy film directed by John Barker. It was released through eVOD in South Africa on 14 June 2022. It screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) that September, where it competed in the Contemporary World Cinema category. It was awarded Best Film at London's Film Africa Fest.
