Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa

Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island

Robben Island from Table Mountain

A visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years as a political prisoner, is a must when you're in Cape Town.  The boat trip both ways is nearly an hour and is not particularly well-organized or enjoyable, but seeing the prison makes the trip worth it.

The prison guides are all former political prisoners who spent years in the Robben Island prison.  Our guide, Sparks, was there from the age of 17 to 24, when President de Klerk ordered all the political prisoners released.

Sparks

Robben Island cell block

Sparks spoke with great passion about the experiences of prisoners there, from having their heads shaved with a razor blade upon arrival to the beatings, hard labor and solitary confinement.  When prisoners first arrived, they were put in solitary confinement for 6 months.  After that, if judged "safe", they were allowed to join the larger prison population where they shared a long room stuffed with 60 cots and 3 toilets.

They were allowed to shower in cold water 3 times a week--60 prisoners using 3 showers in 30 minutes.  Prisoners were issued one set of clothes, shorts and short-sleeved shirts, 1 pair of underwear, no socks or shoes.  They had to wash these weekly and go without clothes while they dried, even when it was very cold.

Cape Town can get quite rainy and cold, but prisoners were not given jackets, long pants or shoes and socks.  There was no glass in the barred windows, so rain poured into the cells and cell blocks, flooding the floors and soaking the beds.  During their entire imprisonment, prisoners had only 3 blankets to use, no sheets.  For the leaders, such as Mandela, there were also no beds--they slept on the concrete floor with a blanket under them, but certainly no pillow.   It was not until prisoners went on a hunger strike many years after Nelson Mandela was imprisoned that they were given thin pads to put on the floor.   Prisoners were constantly ill, many with bouts of pneumonia and TB.  But, a doctor visited only once a week, so they had minimal medical care.  Many died on Robben Island and are buried there.

Bunk beds in cell block

Robben Island cells

The political leaders were kept separate from the rest of the prison population.  They all worked 7 or 8 hours a day breaking up rocks, but in separate quarries so the leaders could not communicate with the rest of the political prisoners.  For the leaders like Mandela, there was no political talk allowed, so he and his colleagues would talk politics when they went to the hole at the quarry that served as a toilet.  They quickly set up a system for using the priests who visited them once a week to smuggle messages to one another and to their families.  They were allowed to play "tennis" and used tennis balls partially cut apart to insert messages and then bat the ball across the wall from one compound to another. 

Mandela's exercise yard

Outside communication was minimal.  Family visits were allowed once a year unless the prisoner was considered too dangerous, in which case he could see no one.  One letter per year was allowed also, but the prison censors so destroyed the letter using scissors to cut out the offending words that most letters had only an address and a greeting left for a prisoner to see.

The leaders were kept in a cell block in tiny cells by themselves.  They were not allowed to talk.  Nor were they allowed any reading material unless they'd won approval to study, which would take at least 18 months to get.  Mandela waited 4 years to get approval to study law, but finished his law degree while on Robben Island.

Mandela's sleeping pad

Every day but Sunday, the leaders spent 7 to 8 hours breaking up rocks, 1/2 hour exercising and the rest of their time, silently, in their cells.  Sparks told me that they would pass the time by rolling up their blankets into balls, using a belt to hold the ball together, then throwing it against the wall endlessly.  Or they would do exercises or communicate by tapping on the walls.

Limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela broke up rocks

When you see and hear about the conditions of imprisonment on Robben Island, it's even more remarkable that prisoners were able to forgive their jailers and that Mandela was able to lead the country into peace and reconciliation.  I don't know how they survived with so little hope of turning South Africa into a free democracy.  But, they were determined to do that and were able, finally, to see their dream a reality.  It's a very moving experience to hear the former prisoners-turned-guides talk about all this and express their hope that the rest of Africa and the world can learn from their example and moral leadership.

Robben Island penguins