A

apartheid (ap-art-hate) - Literally "apart-ness" in Afrikaans, apartheid was the policy of racial separation, and the resulting oppression of the black majority, implemented by the National Party from 1948 to 1990.

ag (agh) - Generally used at the beginning of a sentence, to express resignation or irritation, as in: "Ag no man! What did you do that for?"

amped (am't) - excited

arvie (arh-vee) - afternoon

ayoba (ah yoh bah) - yay, oh yeah

B

babbelas (bub-buh-luss) - A hangover.

bagel (bay-gell) - An overly groomed materialistic young man, and the male version of a kugel.

bakgat (buck-ghut) - Well done, cool, awesome.

bakkie (buck-ee) - A pick-up truck.

ballie (buhl-lee) - an old person

bergie (bear-ghee) - From the Afrikaans berg, mountain, originally referring to vagrants who sheltered in the forests of Cape Town's Table Mountain and now a mainstream word for anyone who is down and out.

bioscope - A cinema or movie theatre, originally a defunct international English word that has survived longer in South Africa because of the influence of the Afrikaans bioskoop.

biscuit - In South Africa a cookie is known as a biscuit. The word is also a term of affection, as in "Hey, you biscuit".

bliksem - To beat up, hit or punch - or a mischievous person

blooming (blimmin) - A variation on very, as in: "That new bakkie is blimmin big."

boet (like book, with a t) - A term of affection, from the Afrikaans for brother.

boma (bow-mah) - An open thatched structure used for dinners, entertainment and parties.

bokkie (bock-ee) - literally 'little buck' - term of endearment for boy/girl

bonsella - Surprise gift, something extra, or a bribe. From isiZulu.

bosberaad (borse-bah-raad)- A strategy meeting or conference, usually held in a remote bushveld location such as a game farm.

bru (brew) - A term of affection, shortened from Afrikaans broer, meaning "brother". "Hey, my bru, howzit?"

bushveld (bush-felt) - Taken from the Afrikaans bosveld ("bush field").

C

café (kaf-ay, kaff-ee or kayff) - The corner store that sells things like cigarettes, cold drinks and newspapers.

check - look eg check this out!

cheers - thanks/goodbye eg cheers, bru.

cherrie - woman or girlfriend

china - China means good friend, as in "This oke's my china". It's one of the few Cockney rhyming slang words to survive in the country, coming from "china plate" = "mate".

chips - look out!  eg chips, the teacher's coming!

chommie - Friend, from the English chum.

chop - idiot

cotch - vomit

classic - awesome/excellent

connection - a person eg here's my connection (my friend/mate)

crash - sleep eg gonna crash for a few hours

D

dassie - The rock hyrax, a small herbivore that lives in mountainous habitats and is said to be the species mostly closely related to the elephant. 

deck - punch eg I'll deck you!

deurmekaar (dee-oor-muh-car) - An Afrikaans for confused, disorganised or stupid, as in "He's a bit deurmekaar.

dinges (ding-us) - A thing, thingamabob, whatzit, whatchamacallit or whatsizname: "When is dinges coming around?"

dodgy - suspicious

doek (like book) - A head scarf worn to protect a woman's hair.

dof - (dawf) dumb/stupid

dolos - Interlocking blocks of concrete in an H-shape, with one arm rotated through 90º. The dolos is a South African invention used to protect seawalls and preserve beaches from erosion. The name comes from an Afrikaans word for the knuckle bones in an animal's leg. The plural is dolosse.

donga - A natural ditch resulting from severe soil erosion. From the isiZulu for "wall".

donner (dor-nuh) - Beat up. From the Afrikaans donder, meaning thunder.

dop (dawp) - An alcoholic drink: "Can I pour you a dop?" It can also mean failure: "I dopped the test."

dorp - A small town on the platteland.

doss - sleep

duck - leave eg let's make like Donald, and duck.

dummy - A baby's pacifier.

Durbs - The city of Durban.

dwaal (dwarl) - Lack of concentration or focus: "Sorry, I was in a bit of a dwaal. Could you repeat that?"

E

eina (ay-nuh or ay-nar) - Ouch! Can also mean "sore".

eish (aysh) - Used to express surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage: "Eish! That cut was eina!"

F

Fixed up - Used to mean "that's good" or "sorted". Example: "Let's meet at the restaurant." The reply: "Fixed up."

flog - No whips implied. South Africans use flog to mean sell, as in "I've had enough of this old car. I think it's time I flogged it."

fong kong - fake

full on - absolutely

fundi (foon-dee) - Expert. From the Nguni umfundisi, meaning teacher or preacher.

fynbos (fayn-baws) - "Fine bush" in Afrikaans, fynbos is a vegetation type unique to the Cape Floral Region - a Unesco World Heritage Site - made up of some 6 000 plant species, including many types of protea.

G

gatvol (ghut-foll) - Taken from Afrikaans, this means fed up, as in "Jislaaik, china, I'm gatvol of working in this hot sun." Translation: "Gee, my friend, I'm fed up with working in this hot sun."

gogga, goggo (gho-gha or gho-gho) - Insect, bug. From the Khoikhoi xo-xon.

gogo (goh-goh) - Grandmother or elderly woman, from isiZulu.

goofed - stoned/out of it

graft - work

H

hang of - Very or big, as in: "It's hang of a difficult" or "I had a hang of a problem".

hectic - extreme

hey - The popular expression hey can be used as a standalone question meaning "pardon" or "what" - "Hey? What did you say?" Or it can be used to prompt affirmation or agreement, as in "It was a great film, hey?"

homelands - The spurious "independent" states in which black South Africans were forced to take citizenship under the policy of apartheid. Also known as bantustans.

honk - stink

hooter - car horn

hose - laugh eg I hosed myself

howzit - A traditional South African greeting hi/how are you/hello 

I

indaba (in-daa-bah) - A conference or expo, from the isiZulu word meaning "a matter for discussion".

inyanga - A traditional herbalist and healer.

izzit  - Is that so?/ Oh really?

J

ja (yaa) - Yes.

jawelnofine - Literally, "yes, well, no, fine", all scrunched into a single word and similar to the rhetorical expression "How about that?"

jislaaik (yis-like) - An expression of outrage or surprise: "Jislaaik, I just saw Elvis!"

jol (jawl) - A versatile word with many meanings, including party, disco, having fun, or just thing.

Jozi (jo-zee) - The city of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, which is also known as Joburg or Joeys.

juice - petrol

just now - If a South African tells you they will do something "just now", they mean they'll do it in the near future - not immediately: "I'll do the dishes just now."

K

kak (khak) - lit. crap - bad/nasty

kasie (kaa-see) - Shortened form of lokasie, "location" in Afrikaans, the older word for township - the low-income dormitory suburbs outside cities and towns to which black South Africans were confined during the apartheid era.

khaya (k-eye-ya) - Home.

kief - Cool, neat, great or wonderful. 

knobkierie (k-nob-kee-ree) - A fighting stick with a knob on the business end. 

koki (koh-key) - A coloured marker or felt-tip pen.

koppie (kor-pie) - A small hill.

kraal - An enclosure for livestock, or a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade. The word may come from the Portuguese curral ("corral"), or from the Dutch kraal, meaning bead, as in the beads of a necklace - kraals are generally round in shape.

kugel (koo-gell) - An overly groomed materialistic young woman, from the Yiddish for a plain pudding garnished as a delicacy. A bagel is the male variety.

kwaai (kw-eye) - cool/rad

kwaito (kw-eye-toe) - The music of South Africa's urban black youth, a mixture of South African disco, hip hop, R&B, ragga, and a heavy dose of house music beats.

kwela (kw-eh-la) - A popular form of township music from the 1950s, based on the pennywhistle - a cheap and simple instrument taken up by street performers. The term kwela comes from the isiZulu for "get up", though in township slang it also referred to the police vans, the kwela-kwela. It is said that the young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners also acted as lookouts to warn those drinking in illegal shebeens of the arrival of the cops.

L

laatlammetjie (laart-lum-et-chie) - The youngest child of a family, born (mostly by accident) to older parents and many years younger than its siblings. The word means "late lamb" in Afrikaans.

lank - a lot eg he's lank clever

lappie (luppie) - A cloth.

larney - fancy, rich

lekgotla (lek-ghot-lah) - A planning or strategy session.

lekker (lekk-irr with a rolling r) - Nice, good, great, cool or tasty.

location - informal settlement

lus (liss) - craving/in the mood eg I'm lus for a jol

M

Madiba (muh-dee-buh) - An affectionate name for former President Nelson Mandela, and the name of his clan.

mal (mull) - crazy/mad

mampara (mum-puh-rah) - An idiot, a silly person. From the Sotho languages.

matric  - grade 12, final year of school

metro - traffic officer

mielie - corn

mif - disgusting/upset

mission - difficult/on a quest eg it's gonna be a mission to get that cat out of the tree

moegoe (moo-ghoo) - A fool, buffoon, idiot or simpleton.

moffie - gay/homosexual

mossie (morse-ee) - common name for the sparrow.

muti (moo-ti) - Medicine, typically traditional African medicine, from the isiZulu umuthi.

Mzansi (m-zun-zee) - A popular word for South Africa.

N

nappy - A baby's diaper.

nca - Fine, beautiful. Pronounced with a downward click of the tongue.

nê (neh) - Really? or is that so? Often used sarcastically.

now-now - Shortly, in a bit: "I'll be there now-now."

O

oke, ou - A man, similar to guy or bloke. The word ou (oh) can be used interchangeably.

ola - hi

P

pasop (pus-orp) - An Afrikaans word meaning "beware" or "watch out".

pavement - South Africans walk on pavements and drive cars on the road (at least that's the idea). The pavement is the sidewalk.

phuza (poo-zah) - to drink

piet-my-vrou (peet-may-frow) - The red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarus). The name, an approximation of the bird's call, literally means "Peter my wife" in Afrikaans.

piss-cat - a heavy drinker

plakkies - flip-flops/thongs

platteland (plutt-uh-lunt) - Farmland, countryside. Literally flat land in Afrikaans, it now refers to any rural area in which agriculture takes place, including the mountainous Cape winelands.

pomp (pohmp) - to have sex

pozzie - house

puffadder - A viper or adder of the species Britis arietans. From the Afrikaans pofadder.

pull in! - come around eg pull in for a dop!

R

rand - The South African currency, which is made up of 100 cents. The name comes from the Witwatersrand (Dutch for "white waters ridge"), the region in Gauteng province in which most of the country's gold deposits are found.

robot - Traffic light.

rock up - To arrive somewhere unannounced or uninvited. It's the kind of thing friends do: "I was going to go out but then my china rocked up."

rods - underwear (male, usually)

rooinek (roy-neck) - English-speaking South African, from the Afrikaans for red neck, but without the connotations given the term in the US. It was first coined by Afrikaners decades ago to refer to immigrant Englishmen, whose white necks were particularly prone to sunburn.

rubbish bin (alternatively dustbin or dirt bin) - Garbage can.

S

sangoma (sun-go-mah) - Traditional healer or diviner.

scale, scaly - To scale = to steal. A scaly person is not to be trusted.

shame - Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling. Someone admiring a baby, kitten or puppy might say: "Ag shame!" to emphasise its cuteness.

sharp - fine, intelligent. Often doubled-up as sharp-sharp!= used as a greeting, a farewell, in agreement or just to express enthusiasm.

shebeen - A township tavern, illegal under the apartheid regime, often set up in a private house and frequented by black South Africans. The word is originally Gaelic.

shongololo - Large brown millipede, from the isiZulu ukushonga, meaning "to roll up".

shot - thanks eg shot for the help

shweet - cool/awesome

sif - disgusting

sjambok (sham-bok) - A stout leather whip made from animal hide.

skedonk (skeh-dohnk) - battered old car

skelm (skellem) - A shifty or untrustworthy person; a criminal.

skinner (skinner) - Gossip. A person who gossips is known as a skinnerbek: "Jislaaik, bru, I'm going to donner that skinnerbek for skinnering about me." Translation: "Gee, my friend, I'm going to hit that guy for gossiping about me."

skollie (skoh-li) - Gangster, criminal

skop, skiet en donner (skorp, skeet en donner) - Action movie. Taken from Afrikaans, it literally means "kick, shoot and beat up".

skrik - Fright: "I caught a big skrik" means "I got a big fright".

skrik vir niks - Scared of nothing.

skyf (skay-ff) - cigarette

sms - text message

smaak stukkend - Love to bits. In Afrikaans smaak means like, and stukkend means broken.

smokes - Cigarettes.

space case - pencil case

spaza - Informal township shop.

spookgerook (spoo-ahk-ghah-roo-ahk) - Literally, in Afrikaans, ghost-smoked. Used jokingly, the word means "mad" or "paranoid".

squatter camp - informal settlement

squiff - skew

stoep (stup) - Porch or verandah.

stompie - A cigarette butt. From the Afrikaans stomp, meaning "stump". The term picking up stompies means intruding into a conversation at its tail end, with little information about its content.

stroppy - Difficult, uncooperative, argumentative or stubborn.

struesbob (s-true-zz-bob) - "As true as Bob", as true as God, the gospel truth.

sucker - lollipop/idiot

swak (swok) - bad

T

takkies - Running shoes or sneakers. Fat takkies are extra-wide tyres.

tannie (tunny) - An Afrikaans word meaning "auntie", but also used for any older female of authority.

taxi - (not metered type) minibus used to transport a large number of people, and the most common way of getting around in South Africa.

to die for - An expression popular in the affluent suburbs of Johannesburg and Cape Town, denoting enthusiastic approval for an object or person: "That necklace is to die for."

tomato sauce - ketchup

toppie - Old man.

torch - flashlight

townships - dormitory suburbs outside cities and towns  to which black South Africans were confined during the apartheid era.

toyi-toyi - A knees-up protest dance.

trek - walk

tsotsi - A gangster, hoodlum or thug - and the title of South Africa's first Oscar-winning movie. Although Will Smith thought otherwise at the awards ceremony, the word is not pronounced "sossy".

tune grief - Cause trouble.

U

ubuntu - Southern African humanist philosophy that holds as its central tenet that a person is a person through other persons. (See box on the right above.)

V

veld (felt) - Open grassland.

velskoen (fell-skun) - Simple unworked leather shoes.

vienna - hot dog sausage

voetsek (foot-sak) - Go away, buzz off.

voetstoets (foot-stoots) - "As is" or "with all its faults".  If an item is sold voetstoets the buyer may not claim for any defects, hidden or otherwise, discovered after the sale. 

vrot (frot) - stale or smelly.

W

windgat (vint-ghut) - Show-off or blabbermouth. Taken from the Afrikaans, it literally means wind hole.

wena - hey you

Y

yebo - yes 

yoh - expression of amazement

Z

z'ikhiphane - what's going on, what's happening, what's up?

Then, of course, there is a lot of slang reserved for special topics, like:

Cars/Transport:

G4 - Golf 4; G5 - Golf 5, 16V - Golf GTi

G-string - BMW 3 series, Gusheshe - BMW325is, Half-past-three - BMW 330i, Quarter-to-eight - BMW 745i

Cab - minibus taxi

Land roving - walking

Starter Pack - Toyota Tazz

Skaf Tin - Mitsubishi minibus

Two series - walking

Zola Budd - Toyota minibus

Soccer:

diski - soccer or football

grounds - stadium or pitch

kwetla - dribbling

laduma - a cheer to celebrate goals scored at soccer matches

makarapa - custom-made hard hat with colourful designs & cut-outs

shibobo or spaitwo - passing the ball through opponents' legs (making a fool out of the person)

vuvuzela - a large, colourful plastic trumpet with the sound of a foghorn, blown enthusiastically by virtually everyone in the crowd at soccer matches

Food & Drink:

achaar - a spicy salad made of mango and oil

amanqina - a hoof of a cow, pig or sheep, it is boiled, then spiced for taste 

amasi (pronounced um-ah-see) - A popular drink of thick sour milk. From the isiZulu. An alternative name is maas.

biscuit - a cookie

biltong - dried and salted raw meat similar to the beef jerky made in the USA

Black - Black Label beer

bobotie (buh-boor-tee) - A dish of Malay origin, made with curried minced meat and sweet spices, and topped with an egg custard.

boerewors (boor-uh-vors) - Literally, farmer's sausage. A savoury sausage developed by the Boers - today's Afrikaners - some 200 years ago, boerewors is South African food at its most traditional.

braai (br-eye) - An outdoor barbecue, where meat such as steak, chicken and boerewors are cooked, served with pap and bredie.

bredie (brear-dee) - A traditional South African mutton stew, first brought to the country by Malay immigrants. It now refers to any kind of stew. Most popular are waterblommetjie bredie & tomato bredie.

bunny chow - Delicious and cheap food on the go, bunny chow is curry served in a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread, generally sold in greasy-spoon cafés. Perfect for eating on the side of the road.

chakalaka - a salad of Indian/ Malay origin made of onion, garlic, ginger, green pepper, carrots and cauliflower, spiced with chillies and curry 

cooldrink/ colddrink - This is the common term for a soda, such as Coca-Cola. Ask for a soda in South Africa and you will receive a club soda.

droewors - dried boerewors, similar to biltong

dumpie - a 340ml bottle of beer

frikkadel - traditional South African meat balls, made from tomatoes, onion, minced beef and other ingredients, and shaped into round balls

gherkin - a small pickled cucumber

graze - to eat

hanepoot (haa-nah-poort) - A sweet wine made from the muscat blanc d'Alexandrie grape cultivar.

hap (hup) - Taste, bite, as in "Take a hap of this".

 
killer army - Amstel beer

koeksister (kook-sister) - A traditional Malay/Afrikaner sweet, made from twisted yeast dough, deep fried and dipped in syrup. Artery clogger! 

kota - bunny chow

mala - intestines, especially those of chicken 

mampoer (mum-poo-er) - Extremely potent brandy made from peaches or other fruit, similar to the American moonshine. See witblitz.

maotwana - chicken legs boiled, washed, salted, then fried

Marmite - Trade name of a dark-coloured spread made from vegetable extract and used on bread or toast. South African's answer to Vegemite (a bit spicier tho')

masonja - worms, similar to caterpillars in appearance, popular with the Shangaans, Vendas and Bapedi

mealie (pronounce mih-lih) - Maize or corn. A mealie is a maize cob, and mealie meal is maize meal, the staple diet of South Africa, which is mostly cooked into pap.

mogodu - tripe 

morogo - wild spinach, the most popular being thepe

naartjie (naar-tchi) - a tangerine 

ngudu - Black Label beer

pap (pup) - The staple food of South Africa, a porridge made from mealie meal (maize meal) cooked with water and salt to a fairly stiff consistency - stywepap being the stiffest. Pap can also mean weak or tired.

papsak (pup-suck) - Cheap box wine sold in its foil container, without the box.

potjiekos (poi-chee-kors) - Traditional Afrikaner food, generally a rich stew, cooked in a three-legged cast-iron pot over a fire.

rooibos (roy-borss) - Afrikaans for red bush, this popular South African tea made from the Cyclopia genistoides bush is gaining worldwide popularity for its health benefits. Contains no tannin or caffeine.

samoosa (suh-moo-suh) - A small, spicy, curry-filled, triangular-shaped pastry, deep-fried in oil. Originally made by the Indian and Malay communities, they are popular with all South Africans.

sarmie - sandwich

skopo - head of a cow, sheep or goat

slap chips (slup chips) - French fries, usually soft, oily and vinegar-drenched, bought in a brown paper bag. 

 
smiley - head of a cow, sheep or goat, boiled, spiced and eaten

snoek (like book) - A popular and tasty fish, often eaten smoked or served at a braai.

sosatie (soh-saa-tee) - A kebab on a stick.

spaikos - fast food

spanspek (spun-speck) - Cantaloupe, an orange-fleshed melon. 

ting - a dish favoured by the Tswanas, it is a sour porridge made of sorghum

umngqusho - a delicacy among the Xhosa people, this is samp (maize kernels) mixed with beans

vetkoek - a doughnut-sized bread roll made from deep-fried yeast dough; mainly served with a savoury mince filling, it's artery-clogging and delicious

witblitz (vit-blitz) - Potent home-made distilled alcohol, much like the American moonshine. The word means "white lightning" in Afrikaans. See mampoer.

Money

Brick - R1000

Courtesy: South African Info -  and others