Maureen Smales
Maureen is the central protagonist of the novel. She's a liberal, middle-class woman from Johannesburg. She grew up in extreme apartheid conditions in a mining town where her father was a mining boss, employing underpaid, mistreated black workers. She considers herself a supporter of black liberation, but when she arrives on her black servant's settlement and finds herself depending on a black family, her latent racism rises to the surface. She never confronts this racism however. She merely copes with it until the end of the novel when she runs toward a helicopter, abandoning everyone, in hopes of saving herself.
Bam Smales
The narrative of July's People enters various points of view and often merges Maureen's with her husband Bam's, as though they share a certain consciousness. Bam is Maureen's liberal husband who introduced her to anti-apartheid politics. His support of black liberation in South Africa runs deeper than Maureen's. His relationship with July is more equal. Bam however gets drawn into Maureen's paranoid projections.
July
July is the young black man who worked as a house servant for Bam and Maureen in Johannesburg for fifteen years. July comes from the rural African settlement that is the setting of the novel. He is loyal to Bam and Maureen and their family, saving them without questioning his actions until it turns out that they question him. He becomes offended by Maureen's presumptions that he might steal from them or turn them in. He grows distant from the couple, especially Maureen, the longer they spend on his land with his family. He nonetheless continues to look out for them.
Martha
Martha is July's wife. She has never known white people until the Smales family arrive on her land. Her husband is also a bit of a stranger to her as he has spent most of his time away from her for the last fifteen years, only sending her envelopes with money and visiting once a year. She is suspicious of the white people; she finds them funny. She has only ever heard July's stories of how big their house is.
Daniel
Daniel is July's young friend who teaches July to drive. Daniel learns how to use Bam's rifle. In the end, Daniel takes the rifle and joins up with the fighters.
The Chief
The chief of July's region, he summons Maureen and Bam to him after he learns of their presence. He asks Bam to teach him how to use the rifle. He is opposed to the fighting going on. He doesn't want black people from other tribes in his region. He would prefer that the white government maintained control of South Africa and upheld the system he lives in.
Victor
Bam and Maureen's oldest son, he is the most mischievous of their children.
Gina
Bam and Maureen's daughter, she is an independent girl with dark blue eyes.
Royce
He is Bam and Maureen's youngest son.
July's Mother
She is an elderly woman who lives close to the land and observes the white people. She has no problem with them herself, but she thinks they will bring trouble.
