The 'Coloured' in South Africa

A: My driver... is colored

B: Pretty sure the term “colored” is offensive, A...

A: B it’s not offensive in South Africa. It just means mixed race

C: Not offensive to whom in South Africa? South Africa has huge issues with racism.

A: I used the term “coloured” to describe my driver, as that was what he identified himself as. He along with other South Africans I’ve met here explained how it’s not a derogatory term for them. My usage of the word was not uninformed.

B: I learned something new today! It’s such a loaded term though

I wonder, linguistically, if using the British spelling in this instance would better help differentiate the word though? To distinguish it from where in America it would be offensive?

A: hmm... the NACCP has the word “colored” as part of its official name.