promulgated
Ordinance
50, which
repealed
the previous
Khoikhoi legislation and made "Hottentots
and other free people of co-
lour" equal before the law with Whites. The yoth Ordinance met with stri-
dent protests from Afrikaners and British settlers, and a Vagrancy Ordi-
nance was drafted that would have turned the clock back by compelling the
Khoikhoi, and also the former slaves at the end of their period of appren-
ticeship, "to earn an honest livelihood." Before he left England, however,
Philip had ensured that the yoth Ordinance should not be amended with-
out British consent. The British government accordingly disallowed the
draft Vagrancy Ordinance, and on emancipation the slaves stepped into the
legal status won by the Khoikhoi in 1828. 60
The freedom acquired by the Khoikhoi and the former slaves, however,
was limited. The 50th Ordinance freed them from overtly discriminatory
legislation; it did nothing to assist them to overcome their poverty, which
was the result of the entrenched domination of the economy by the white
population.
In a preindustrial
and predominantly
rural context, land
ownership is .an essential basis for individual and group autonomy. By
1828, Whites were the legal owners of nearly all the productive land in the