Cape Coloureds - Religion

Apart from the Muslim Cape Malays (6.7 percent), the Coloured people are by and large nominal Christians (26 percent Dutch Reformed, 10.7 percent Anglican, 5.7 percent Methodist, 7 percent Congregationalist, 10 percent Catholic), a pattern very similar to that of Whites. Compared with the Bantu-speaking peoples, the Coloureds have engaged in relatively few minor schismatic movements in reaction to White domination in religion.

On the Coloured reserves and mission stations, the churches and the Christian religion stand at the core of communal and political life. Some residents have retained aspects of traditional Khoi religion, magic, and sorcery, and they hold these beliefs together with their articulation of Christianity. In urban areas, varieties of magico-medical traditions persist. Many of these, notably divination and the prescription of "home remedies" for illness, are often associated with people of Cape Malay background.