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Mark Mathabane's Kaffir Boy Essay: Passbook

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Kaffir Boy Essay: Passbooks In Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabane describes how a small stack of papers carried by people in Alexandra sustains control over their existence. These “papers” define the whole life of an African person without any type of documentary reinforcements. In Alexandra, people are forced to bear passbooks at all times to strictly limit the movements of black Africans. They live in continuous fear of being caught without them, so they remain incognito from the authority because it is a major crime in apartheid. The purpose of the passbook were to keep people under the apartheid laws but people were often compelled to break these laws to find work and take care of their families. In addition, these laws were made to ensure
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