Смешанное население южной Африки: Гоффалы и «Колореды» Зимбабве, Замбии и Малави.

Ethnic group in southern Africa
Goffals or Coloured Zimbabweans are persons of mixed race, predominately those claiming both European and African descent, in Malawi, Zambia, and, particularly Zimbabwe. They are generally known as Coloureds, though the term Goffal is used by some in the Coloured community to refer to themselves, though this does not refer to the mixed race community in nearby South Africa. The community includes many diverse constituents of Shona, Northern Ndebele, Bemba, Fengu, British, Afrikaner, Cape Coloured, Cape Malay and less commonly Portuguese, Greek, Goan, and Indian descent. Similar mixed race communities exist throughout Southern Africa, notably the Cape Coloureds of South Africa. It is not clear when the term Goffal first entered common usage, but among Coloureds themselves it had surfaced by the mid to late 1970s. Their precise numbers are difficult to ascertain, due to the fact that some identify exclusively as members of other ethnic groups.

The earliest Coloured communities in central Africa were formed in Southern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe), mainly by those who had emigrated as servants of Afrikaners and other white South African settlers from the Cape of Good Hope. Coloured immigration from
South Africa spiked following a depression after the Second Boer War and continuing throughout much of the early twentieth century. By the 1930s most local Coloureds had been born in Southern Rhodesia as offspring of British administrators and colonists and local women. The Coloured populace increased to about 24,000 through intermarriage, and by 1969 about 91% were considered Rhodesian citizens, a smaller number being Zambians, Malawians, and South Africans. Southern Rhodesia, which had unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia in 1965, classified Coloureds as persons of mixed ancestry who did not follow a traditional African way of life and whose culture was European in origin and form. Coloureds who lived with black African families were notably excluded, as were those who physically passed for Europeans and Asians, respectively. Mugabe won the country's first general elections held under a universal franchise, despite facing militant opposition from Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and a number of minority parties. All Coloureds registered in the Rhodesian electoral system prior to December 31, 1979 were permitted to vote, and those that did so overwhelmingly endorsed the Rhodesian Front. Nevertheless, ZANU's ascension was greeted with caution. During the bush war, black nationalists frequently decried Coloureds as having benefited unjustly from the colonial racial hierarchy, and those who attempted to join ZANU and ZAPU's guerrilla armies were often detained or executed as spies. Less educated, blue collar Coloured workers were also concerned they would face job displacement from an advancing black workforce once they lost the advantage of preferential employment by white supervisors. Others seemed convinced only blacks would benefit economically under Mugabe's rule, at the expense of themselves and other ethnic minorities. The NAAC has issued a statement claiming that "Coloured people are visibly and verbally treated with disdain contemptuously dismissed with xenophobic comments" urging them to "go back to Britain". This resulted in considerable ambivalence towards local Coloureds born in Northern Rhodesia, whom colonial officials described with a menagerie of labels as varied as "half castes", "Anglo Africans", "Indo Africans", and "Eurafricans". Northern Rhodesian Coloureds often bore distinguished British surnames, having descended from some of the colony's earliest pioneers, administrators, and officials. The British paternity of mixed children was an especially contentious issue, allowing Coloureds to petition for recognition as British subjects, entitled to British passports. Their requests were ignored by the Colonial Office, which regarded them only as protected subjects, a status otherwise reserved for black Africans. Under the Northern Rhodesian Immorality Suppression Ordinance, it was a criminal offence for a white woman to marry or cohabit with a black man. Marriages between white men and black women, although not expressly forbidden, were likewise unrecognised by the state. An exodus of migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent to various British dependencies across sub Saharan Africa formed an integral part of colonial migration patterns during the early twentieth century; the Indians came to earn modest incomes which in turn supported their extended families back home. Most Indian business owners were bachelors or married men who immigrated without their wives; a number cohabited with African women accordingly.

In 1973, 83.2% of all Coloureds in Rhodesia lived in a major urban population centres, the largest number being concentrated in Bulawayo (6,630 Coloured residents) and Salisbury (6,030 Coloured residents). Only about 2,290 resided in rural areas, mostly on farms. The internal ranking stratum among Coloureds is complex. During the colonial era, they identified first and foremost with the non African component in their ancestry, and within equal socio economic circles social prestige was dependent upon one's progenitors. Coloureds of British descent from Zambia and Malawi retain strong emotional ties to the United Kingdom. When India's independence movement began gaining momentum in the late 1940s, Coloured schools in central Africa rejected Indian instructors, emphasising that "love and patriotism to the British nation" were an integral part of their curricula. Since the decolonisation of the African continent, it has been a longstanding tradition for Coloured parents to send their children to the United Kingdom for schooling. Others are sent to work there after completing their schooling locally. Coloured Zimbabweans have traditionally been Roman Catholic, although a sizeable minority also belongs to the Anglican Church.