South Africa Slang Dictionary

South African slang is a rich, multilingual mix that borrows freely from the country's eleven official languages - isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho and more - plus street languages like tsotsitaal and Sepitori. It's the language of the townships, the taxi rank, kwaito and amapiano, and everyday Mzansi life from Joburg to Cape Town to Durban. Words like eish, howzit, lekker, sharp sharp and yebo are woven into how South Africans speak every day. Explore the community-built dictionary of South African slang below - and add the words you know.

Zama Zamas is a name given to illegal miners in South Africa. They find abandoned mines and start mining.
Example

Zama Zamas will stop at nothing to mine what they want.

CG 03 November 2022
An offensive term used to refer to men who suffer from premature ejaculation (men who cum early).
Example

She says she won't sleep with him again cause he is a 2 minute noodle.

CG 03 November 2022
A kasi term used to refer to food.
Example

I am starving, ke batla zozo.

I am starving, I want food.

DRex 03 November 2022
Sky Daddy is a term used to refer to God.
Example

I had to speak to Sky Daddy yesterday when I wasn't feeling good.

DRex 03 November 2022
Ijaja is a widely used South African slang term to refer to God.
Example

I don't care what you say, ijaja is my witness.

MXhosa 03 November 2022
Kaaps or Afrikaaps is an Afrikaans dialect that is mainly spoken in the Cape Flats in Cape Town.
Example

I thought I knew Afrikaans until I went to the Cape Flats and heard what they call Kaaps/Afrikaaps.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
Afrikaaps is a slang version of Afrikaans, spoken in Cape Town.
Example

I proudly speak Afrikaaps.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
The term Cape Flats refers to a flat, sandy stretch of land which is located on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town. It has been accurately described as the "dumping ground of apartheid" and it is here that people of colour (non-whites in "old South Africa" language) were relocated to in terms of the infamous Group Areas Act.
Example

I am from the Cape Flats where we hear gunshots every night.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
In South Africa, the terms township and location usually refer to the often underdeveloped, racially segregated urban areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid, were reserved for non-whites, namely Black Africans, Coloureds and Indians.
Example

Each and every township in South Africa is almost the same.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
Coloured, formerly Cape Coloured, a person of mixed European (β€œwhite”) and African (β€œblack”) or Asian ancestry, as officially defined by the South African government from 1950 to 1991.
Example

Coloureds are mostly found in Cape Town but can be found all over South Africa.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
A bottle kop is a broken glass bottleneck that is used to smoke weed like a pipe.
Example

I'm tired of this rolled weed, let's use a bottle kop.

LinguistZA 03 November 2022
Glamour Boys is another nickname for the South African soccer team Kaizer Chiefs.
Example

The Glamour Boys will beat Masandawana.

DRex 04 November 2022

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