Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (S.Afr.) a Cape Coloured, a member of the Coloured population group of the Cape Province, esp. of the Western Province of the Cape.

1940		V. Pohl Bushveld Adventures 188: Our oarsman, a ‘Capie’ named Willem, [...] placed a shot-gun in the boat as we were about to depart.
1959		J.M. Meiring Candle in the Wind 139: He must be white. What is he doing with a Capie?
1960		C. Hooper Brief Authority 54: This is Transvaal where we know all about kaffers and ‘capeys’.
1963		A. Fugard Blood Knot (1968) 131: Just a little bit black, And a little bit white. He’s a Capie through and through.
1974		D. Rooke Margaretha de la Porte 48: She learned new songs from the Capies at their fires: ‘Polly we are going to Paarl’ and ‘Here comes the Alabama’ [DSAE].

2. an inhabitant of the Western Cape, or of the city of Cape Town.

1963		A. Fugard Blood Knot in New Eng. Dramatists 13 (1968) 131: Just a little bit of black, / And a little bit of white, / He’s a Capie through and through.
1966		C. Van Heyningen Uys Krige 115: The kind of banjo, guitar, or concertina music that the ‘Capeys’ love.
1970		Drum (Johannesburg) Nov. 15: If there ever has to be a roll call of Capeys in Durban it’ll have to be on a scroll to contain all the names [DSAE].
1981		C. Barnard in Daily Dispatch (S.Afr.) 16 Nov. 8: In the good old days of the Cape, which most middle-aged Capies can remember clearly, the local fishermen would travel around town on a cart announcing themselves with a blast on a long tube of dried seaweed [DSAE].
1989		S. Hobbs in Style Dec. 6: You Caapies seem to think yours is the only town with some sort of scenic beauty [DSAE].
1990		R. Gool Cape Town Coolie 59: I ’eard it you living in the Cape now. [...] You look like a Cape-jie already.