Hottentot Proclamation

The Hottentot Proclamation, also known as the Hottentot Code, the Caledon Proclamation, or the Caledon Code, was the first of a series of laws that sought to restrict the rights of the Khoikhoi in Cape Colony.^[1] It was passed on November 1, 1809, by the Earl of Caledon, the first civilian governor of Cape Colony after occupation by Britain in 1806. The proclamation is one of the most significant pieces of legislation in colonial South Africa's history supporting the enslavement the native population.^[2] While the proclamation aided the Khoikhoi by requiring written contracts to employ servants and providing safeguards against ill treatment, it severely restricted their freedom by preventing them from moving away from their farms without a pass signed by their employer.^[3] It was later supported by a law passed in 1812 that mandated Khoikhoi children cared for by settlers for their first eight years to be apprenticed for a minimum of ten years.^[2] Under heavy opposition by missionaries, the British government repealed the Hottentot Proclamation in 1828 through Ordinance 50, which stated that Khoikhois would not have to carry a pass or be forced into labor contracts.^[4] The repeal of the code would later set the stage for the abolition of slavery in all parts of the British empire via the Emancipation Act of 1833.^[3]

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