High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Pass laws in South Africa were designed to segregate the population and limit severely the movements of the non-white populace. This legislation was one of the dominant features of the country`s apartheid system. The Black population were required to carry these pass books with them when outside their compounds or designated areas. Failure to produce a pass often resulted in the person being arrested. Any white person, even a child, could ask a black African to produce his or her pass.