access to the land and lived as family units. If they tried to leave, however,
some farmers tied them to the farm by using their control of local au-
thorities to prevent Africans from getting "passes" to work in towns, by
whipping workers who broke their contracts, and by placing Africans in
debt. 35 Most farm laborers were isolated from both the reserves and the
towns and thereby were deprived of wider traditional
as well as modern
social networks and cultural opportunities. At best, their liveswere amelio-
165