Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (S.Afr.) a black person.

1963		B. Modisane Blame me on Hist. 53: Kill a black man and it’s three years. [...] They like it when the perkies, the monkeys, kill each other.
1970		Beeton & Dorner in Eng. Usage in Southern Afr. II:2 6: Pekkie, [...] abbr[eviation] of piccanin, male Ba[ntu] of any age, used in Natal [DSAE].
1988		Frontline Apr.–May 24: ‘I tjaaf you, the peckies are getting white these days,’ said Don. ‘You can’t trust them, any of them.’ [DSAE].
1991		informant in DSAE (1996).

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1978

The 1820 51:12 19: There are [...] pekkie ous (Blacks) — known also as zims, zambis and ravens [DSAE].