Thread by @BBCAfrica

Has the end of apartheid in South Africa meant that more people date outside their race?

Data looking at interracial relationships largely focuses on at least one of the partners being white.

We explore #Blasian (Black & Asian) love in South Africa 🇿🇦.

bbc.co.uk/news/stories-5…

Ithra and Tumelo are a young Blasian couple from Joburg.

They were born after apartheid ended, but feel that the hangover of a segregated and tiered system is playing out in love.

Data from @StatsSA show that whilst interracial relationships are becoming more common in South Africa, Blasian couples only make up around 0.1% of relationships.

Ithra and Tumelo's parents are about to meet for the first time.

Ithra's parents actively opposed apartheid, but finding out that she had a black boyfriend led to mixed feelings in the family.

Tumelo’s mother explains that even though Black and Asian people were segregated from white people, there was still very little mixing between them.

Simone and Bandile are a Born Free blasian couple from rural Kwazulu Natal. Simone hid her pregnancy from her parents - and they only found out she had a black boyfriend when she gave birth on her bedroom floor!

Almost 40% of South Africa are Born Frees - soon the majority of the country will be made up of people born after apartheid ended.

Simone’s hope is that her daughter Chloe will have a freer time than she did.

Watch the full documentary:

Tell us about your own #Blasian relationships...

If you want to see how Ithra and Tumelo’s family meeting went - you can also listen to our documentary Blasian Love below:
bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3c…

Reporter: @meghamohan
Producer: @KevyahCardoso
Director: @Yousef_Eldin