Apartheid-Era Passbook

This photo depicts one of the reference books which all South African blacks were once required to carry.  Such a passbook, mandatory under apartheid-era laws, determined where its holder could live and work.

The United Nations' web site, featuring an apartheid-era photo collection, also provides additional background about the "homelands" where blacks were forced to live:

In 1976 the United Nations unanimously condemned the elevation of one of the "homelands," Transkei [Mandela's birthplace], into an independent State because it remained dependent on South Africa. Not one country in the world recognized the new State. In 1982, almost one million black South Africans were transferred to another country - Swaziland - without their having any say in the matter.

The picture (UN Photo # 155573) is part of the United Nations Photo Archive collection.