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Initially the pass or passport was required of any person who wished to enter the Cape Colony from beyond its borders. Thus a Xhosa person who lived in British Kaffraria, would be required to obtain a pass from a Special Commissioner if he or she wished to cross the colonial borders. Such passes were usually only issued if the person was entering the Colony for purposes of labour.
Very quickly, however, the pass system became synonymous with rule of the Black community. As the colonial boundaries slowly expanded to incorporate Xhosa villages, the Black population were not seen as citizens of the Colony, but as outsiders who were still required to carry passes. The only exception were those Black people (males) who had sufficient wealth and/or education to enable them to pass as Whites. The persons could acquire the franchise and thereupon became "exempted" from the pass laws.
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This system would remain in effect until the demise of the Cape Colony in 1910, but it was then carried into the laws of the new Union of South Africa.
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