During my first visit to South Africa a year earlier I was offered the chance to visit Robben Island but I felt that it was something I wanted to experience with people that I knew as I was certain that it was going to be a daunting event. The prison was set up to hold Islamic holy men, political dissidents, pirate and murderers. By far the most famous of the prisoners was Nelson Mandela who was incarcerated on the island for 27 years for being a political dissident. The last political prisoners left in May 1991. The prison itself has recently closed, leaving the island as a wildlife sanctuary and place of pilgrimage for South African nationalism.
I was immediately struck by the feeling of total entrapment. The only escape for the prisoners was across a treacherous stretch of water infested with man-eating sharks. The entrance to the prison housed the visiting block where relatives could apply six months in advance for a day pass. Prisoners were only allowed two visits a year. On the tour around the island we were shown the guards accommodation, the cemetery for lepers, the quarries where prisoners toiled day upon day. A very moving tour carried out by one of the many ex-prisoners who now work in the prison they were once held in.
The tour of the prison itself was totally awe-inspiring. The gentleman who was the guide was an ex-political prisoner who was incarcerated for 18 years. His first words to me as I went to introduce myself were ‘You owe me.’ The conditions the prisoners had to live in were unbelievable. Their cells were cramped, the meals and ablutions were inadequate and their living conditions were inhumane. Our tour of the prison itself included a tour of the cells, including Nelson Mandela’s cell, the exercise yard and the surrounding out-buildings. One of these, Section A, was the solitary confinement block. This was meant to be used as a punishment but the majority of new arrivals were placed in the block for their first three or four months. I will never forget this experience and it is one that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting South Africa.
Rock Pile Off shore Breakfast at 3.30 am Brutality Exercise yard Nelson Mandela
Impossible to escape Solitary confinement Limestone A Block No Rights Detention
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