Scholars examining the South African racial classification system have suggested that apartheid-era racial categories continue to officially classify the South African population. However, there is little discussion about the extent to which the South African racial classification configuration is relevant to new immigrants and refugees (or their descendants) and whether the system will endure or undergo transformation in the face of a growing immigration-induced racial and ethnic diversity. It is palpable that new immigrants and refugees will continue to find apartheid-era South African racial categories incompatible with identities they brought from their home countries. I draw on some empirical works conducted in South Africa and examples in other national contexts such as the USA to argue that the rigid quaternary South African racial classification system, which is based on White, Black, Indian, and Colored racial categories, might be transformed or re-configured due to shifts and transformations in the racial and ethnic makeup of the South African population owing to immigration. Furthermore, such re-configuration might occur if immigrant and refugee communities or their descendants lobby the South African state to create identities for them. Currently, and in the context of widespread public and institutional xenophobia and exclusion of non-citizens, it is paramount to create categories that refer to “foreign-origin” to tackle systemic discrimination based on foreign origin and accelerate institutional integration of refugees and immigrants.

研究南非种族分类系统的学者提出，种族隔离时代的种族类别继续对南非人口进行正式分类。但是，关于南非种族分类结构在多大程度上与新移民和难民（或其后代）有关，以及在移民移民引起的种族和族裔日益增长的情况下，该制度是否会持久或发生转变，鲜有讨论。多样性。显然，新移民和难民将继续发现种族隔离时代的南非种族类别，与他们从本国带来的身份不符。我借鉴了在南非进行的一些经验工作以及在其他国家背景下（例如美国）的例子，他们认为基于白人，黑人，印度裔和有色种族类别的严格的第四纪南非种族分类系统可能会发生变化。或由于移民导致南非人口的种族和民族组成发生转变和转变而进行了重新配置。此外，如果移民和难民社区或其后代游说南非国家为他们创建身份，则可能会发生这种重新配置。当前，在广泛的公共和机构仇外心理以及排斥非公民的背景下，