The only substantially important thing about the early experiment with a stratified free European labour class, which had three strata, was that the lowest level married non-white enslaved and Khoe in substantial numbers. Some of their offspring assimilated into European society and others became part of the emergent community who would be labelled formally as ‘Coloured’ in 1911. Today, many of the latter increasingly call themselves Camissa Africans or are reasserting their Khoe heritage.
