Robben Island is best known as the location of the prison where Nelson Mandela was confined for 18 years of his 27-year sentence for sabotage against the apartheid regime of South Africa. The island is a rugged outpost about 45 minutes by ferry from mainland Cape Town and housed political as well as criminal inmates.
The political prisoners belonged to the ANC and PAC organizations and were separated according to colour: Black, Coloured, and Indian/Asian. Food rations were distributed according to colour, and the Black prisoners received the least favourable food and the smallest portions. Clothing was also distributed according to colour: Coloured and Indian/Asian prisoners were given long pants and shoes, while Black prisoners were given only shorts and no shoes.
All prisoners worked in the limestone quarry, most with shoes and the Black prisoners without.
The prisoners on the island, in some respects, considered themselves lucky. Upon their initial arrest for treason, sabotage, etc., they would be held in detention, where they were severely tortured for months on end. Many died, and many suffered severe mental and physical consequences.
Our guide in the prison was an ex-political prisoner and a survivor of the island. In his words, he felt the original police detention lasted a lifetime, while life on the island was more bearable. He was sentenced to seven years for what the officials called “terrorism.”
All prisoners, upon arrival, lost their identity and were known only by a number: three digits/two digits indicating prisoner number/year of incarceration. Nelson Mandela was prisoner 466/64, making him the 466th prisoner in the year 1964.
He remained there until 1982, when he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison and given the number 220/82, although prisoner number 46664 continues to be used as a reverential title for him.
The prison is only a small reflection of the history of the struggle against apartheid and the lives lost in the struggle for equality. Nelson Mandela is one of the many heroes, but one of the few who put forth the idea of truth and reconciliation between the country’s racial groups.
He was finally released from prison in 1990 and became South Africa’s first Black president, serving from 1994 to 1999. He died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.
