Koreans in South Africa form the largest Korean diaspora community on the African continent and the 29th-largest in the world, ahead of Koreans in Spain and behind Koreans in Italy. History South Africa had considered importing labourers from Korea as early as 1903 to control rising mining wages, but eventually decided on Chinese workers instead. The Immigration Act of 1913 classified all Asians as "prohibited immigrants", thus preventing them from settling in the country or conducting commercial activities there. In 1930, when then-Minister of the Interior D. F. Malan made the decision to exclude Japanese from the "prohibited immigrants" category as defined by the 1913 Act, Koreans remained prohibited immigrants, though Jan Smuts angrily protested that the exemption represented a precedent for opening the door to Koreans and Chinese as well. In fact, it came to pass as Smuts predicted: Koreans were removed from the "prohibited immigrants" category in the 1960s. However, the Korean community in South Africa only really began to take shape after the 1992 establishment of relations between South Korea and South Africa. South Korean companies began sending expatriate employees and their families to the country, and international students found themselves able to enroll in South African universities. A number of independent migrants came as well; they typically set up small businesses in the import/export, hospitality, car repair, and photography sectors. They are mainly found in the suburbs of Johannesburg. Demography From 658 people in 1997—19% of all Koreans on the continent and little larger than the Korean community of 589 people in Ghana—their numbers doubled to 1,356 by 2001 and grew again by 155% to 3,452 in 2005, making then 44% of all Koreans in Africa and nearly five times the size of the next-largest community. Most are located in Johannesburg, with a smaller community in Cape Town. South Korean tourists generally choose Cape Town as their primary destination, due to Table Mountain and other famous natural attractions. By 2011, the Korean population of South Africa had grown another 9% to 4,186. Of South Korean nationals or former nationals in the country, 126 had South African nationality, 1,227 were permanent residents, 954 were international students, and the remaining 1,879 had other types of visas. Most resided in or Gauteng (2,240 people, 54% of all Koreans in the country) or Western Cape (1,800, or 43%). The Korean communities in those two provinces exhibit differing demographic characteristics: the