Sandra Laing

Who is Sandra Laing?

Sandra Laing is a South African woman notable for appearing as and being classified as "coloured" by authorities during the apartheid era, due to her skin colour and hair texture, although she was the child of at least three generations of white ancestors. At age 10, she was expelled from her all-white school, and the authorities' decisions based on her anomalous appearance disrupted her family and adult life.

Laing is the subject of the 2008 biographical dramatic film Skin, directed by Anthony Fabian, which has won numerous awards. In addition, she is the subject of the documentaries In Search of Sandra Laing, directed by Anthony Thomas for the BBC, which was banned by the apartheid government of the time; Sandra Laing: A Spiritual Journey, and Skin Deep: The Story of Sandra Laing.