Short answers, pulled from the story.
Portuguese explorers arrived on the East African coast and encountered the word kaffir in 1498. Early usage focused on pagan zanj along the Swahili coast who were targets of the Arab slave trade.
The Arabic root kāfir originally meant disbeliever or non-believer without racial connotation. The term spread through English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, and later Afrikaans as a general descriptor for Southern African ethnic groups from the 17th century onward.
In 2000, the parliament of South Africa enacted the Promotion of Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act specifically targeting hate speech terms including kaffir. This legislation criminalized the use of the word to protect individuals from unfair discrimination.
March 2018 marked when Vicki Momberg became the first woman convicted of racist language for using the term over 40 times against police officers. She received jail time overnight and fines after pleading guilty to crimen injuria for her actions.
July 2024 brought international botanical decision changing more than 300 scientific names containing kaffir-related terms like caffer caffra and caffrum. These became afer afra and afrum respectively with Erythrina caffra now designated as Erythrina afra.