Like most people the reason I have heard of Robben Island is because it is where Mandela was imprisoned for the majority of the time he was robbed of his freedom.18 of his 27 years were spent in a small cell not much bigger than a double bed. But he was not restricted to the cell 24/7. On the contrary, the white South African government, probably believing their own propaganda that black people were inherently inferior, could not readily understand that by locking up the thinkers and leaders of the black majority they were ultimately contributing to their own downfall. When finally released, the conversations undertaken in Robben Island Prison, ensured that the representatives of the people, the leaders of the ANC were more than ready to enter in to political dialogue and confidently demand terms that then led to the most progressive constitution in the world, and democratic majority rule.
But before I tell you more about the man that everyone knows about, I would like, if I may, to tell you about a man who I almost guarantee most of you have never heard of. The ONLY man the racist South Africa government, locked up and detained without trial as a political prisoner: Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe leader of the breakaway Pan Africanist Congress. He led the refusal to carry pass books that led to the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, and was subsequently sentenced to, and served, 3 years in jail. Terrified of his impact on release, the government actually passed the General Law Amendment Act. The Act included what was termed the 'Sobukwe Clause', which empowered the Minister of Justice to prolong the detention of any political prisoner indefinitely. Sobukwe was moved to Robben Island where he remained for an additional six years in solitary confinement. They actually built a house for him, but allowed him no contact with any other human being other than his warders. The Clause was never used to detain anyone else. All other prisoners, including Mandela, Sisulu and the others, were actually convicted (albeit on charges entirely due to a racist government attempting to suppress a black majority), and were considered "prisoners". Sobukwe was simply "detained".
On being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1969 he was allowed to leave Robben Island but banished to Galeshewe in Kimberley, where he was under house arrest for 12 hours of each day but allowed to live with his family. He died on 27 February 1978 having not been a free man since his initial incarceration in 1960. I thought I had heard much of the cruelty of the Apartheid government but this left me speechless. All the more so because I had never heard it before. I hope my brief history has done him justice but if anyone is interested in reading a more comprehensive biography there is one at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/robert-sobukwe
A visit to Robben Island while in Cape Town is a must, even with the slightly rough half hour crossing on an ageing catamaran without stabilisers. As well as seeing the cell in which Mandela spent about 18 years, the guides, some of whom are ex-prisoners themselves show you round the jail and the key landmarks of the island, which has effectively been used as a prison of one sort or another for 500 years.
This is Mandela's cell.
And this is a so-called bed.
And the diet. Discriminatory even within the prison.
That Mandela was a great man is, I hope, beyond dispute. Walking around Cape Town and visiting the jail in which he was incarcerated for 18 (of his 27 years in jail) on Robben Island, only goes to confirm that. From his cell on Robben Island, to the spot at City Hall where he made his first address to fellow South Africans as a free man, 10,050 days after being first imprisoned for fighting against apartheid,
“Friends, Comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today - I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands”.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 11 February 1990
to the parliament building where he was inaugurated as the first democratically elected black leader of South Africa in 1994, the city is fundamentally linked to the man's life and his lifetime battle with Apartheid.
A visit to Robben Island and seeing the cell in which Mandela effectively voluntarily remained for so long is a sobering experience. I say voluntarily because when jailed for life in 1964 he effectively did not dispute the charges:
"I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites."
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, June 1964
Then in 1985 PW Botha, leader of the minority government offered to release him subject to the condition that he renounce violence. Mandela refused, thus ensuring his incarceration for another 5 years. That, on his eventual release, he was able to preach reconciliation and peace is a mark of the remarkable qualities of the man.
Considered a great honour in Xhosa tradition, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, was given the name Madiba as recognition of his achievement of remarkable things. It is actually the name of the Xhosa tribe into which he was born on 18 July 1918, in Mvezo, Cape Province. In that region of Africa, naming a man after the name of his tribe is considered one of the greatest honours that can be given.
The name is also intended to convey his status as "Father of the Nation" and is preferred by many South Africans to his "English" name of Nelson given to him in primary school. His given birth name is, of course, Rolihlahla.
When, as the newly elected president, he visited the limestone quarry in which he had been forced to work for many year, Mandela made the simple act of picking up a single stone and placing it at the entrance. His fellow parliamentarians followed suit and the pile of stones, untouched is now an enduring symbol of the ultimately successful struggle for freedom.
It will in the nature of all things eventually disappear, but until that time long in the future it remains a simple but poignant reminder of humanity's frailties and spirit of survival, redemption and reconciliation. As is another quote attributed to Madiba, found on a wall in District 6 in central cape Town.
Been bit of a heavy one today. For which I actually make no apology. A visit to Robben Island is a moving reminder of what this state did in the name of white rule and the ultimate triumph of freedom and human dignity over oppression and humiliation. If that is not worth being serious about, I don't know what is.
I will lighten up for my last blog of the trip tomorrow, because the clouds have cleared, perhaps as metaphorical message on return from Robben Island. This is my view from the boat on the way back from the island.
By the time I write again we will have been up the iconic Table Mountain to enjoy the magnificent views from the top. Something tells me we won't have walked up!
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