<P> The first internal passports in South Africa were introduced on 27 June 1797 by the Earl Macartney in an attempt to prevent natives from entering the Cape Colony . The Cape Colony was merged with other states in the region to form the Union of South Africa in 1910 , under the UK . By this time , versions of pass laws existed elsewhere . A major boost for their utilisation was the rise of the mining sector from the 1880s : pass laws provided a convenient means of controlling workers ' mobility and enforcing contracts . </P>
who came up with the pass laws and when
on 27 June 1797 by the Earl Macartney