Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a derog. term of address to a black man.

1930		in L. Barnes Caliban in Africa 121: Malherbe refers to ‘the business man who sits at his office desk and rings the bell for Jim Fish, who is working in the yard, to bring him his spectacles which lie just a little beyond reach’.
1943		D. Reitz No Outspan 199: The fool of the piece was called Jim Fish. His role was to do everything in the wrong way in order to teach the others how to do it correctly.
1951		R. Farran Jungle Chase (1957) 114: I like Jim Fish, and he likes me. Duff him when he is cheeky, give him a kind word when he does well.
1967		H. Bernstein World That Was Ours (2007) 343: ‘Jim Fish’ is slang and a derogatory term for ‘African’.
1975		J. McClure Snake (1981) 83: Good God, at the rate we’re going, I’m likely to find myself working with Jungle Jim alongside of me! .. Jungle Jim? [...] O, my mistake! Jim Fish — that’s it, isn’t it?