Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a boy or man, also used as a form of address (cf. oke n.¹ ).

1943		Weekend News 6 Sun. Mag. 20 Mar. ‘Rong ergain!’ larfed Sofie Dikpens. ‘Dats de wors orf er standard tree [i.e. three] oakie taking de chair!’ [DSAE].
1972		‘Rawbone Malong’ Ah Big Yaws? 37: Variants exist, such as Oke, Okie, Itie, Litie, with pride of place going to the famous plural Use-ose: ‘Wheeze use-ose jawlingtu, ay?
1989		J. Allan in Sun. Times (Jo’burg) 11 June 4: ‘Where is Studio Four and are all these people auditioning for Focus?’ I asked the reception okie [DSAE].
1990		D. Hofmeyr Red Kite in Pale Sky 72: Just testing okie. There’s no fun in fighting with someone like you.