Robben Island

On Thursday, our group went on a tour of Robben Island. The island has played an infamous role in the history of colonialism in South Africa. The British used the island to exile African chiefs who threatened their reign and after gaining independence, the South African government used it originally as a sanatorium for people with leprosy or severe mental illnesses (Coombes, 2003). During apartheid, the government built a prison on the island and many people were sent their as political prisoners. Nelson Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress, was arrested in 1964 for treason: conspiracy to overthrow the government. Mandela's sentence was life imprisonment and he was sent to Robben Island to work in the limestone quarry. He served 27 years in prison at Robben Island and later at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and was released in 1990. While he was at Robben Island, he secretly wrote about his experience, which was later compiled into his book, A Long Walk to Freedom. We took a 40 minute ferry ride from the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town to reach Robben Island. Though the prison on the island was medium security, there were never escapes because of the distance to land and the amount of great white sharks that love the area where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. From the island, there is an incredible view of Table Mountain, which was an eerie reminder to prisoners of the freedom that they did not have, but also served as inspiration to continue their fight for equality.

Below is a picture of Mandela's cell while at the prison:

Robben Island prison housed political prisoners until 1991 when the last prisoner was sent back to Cape Town and the prison was officially closed. The island had always played an important part in the history of South Africa and many different groups argued over what to do with the it after its closing (Coombes, 2003). Proposals were made to create a Disney-style amusement park, rehabilitation camp for street children, and a casino. With the fall of apartheid in 1994, it was decided that the island needed to serve as a reminder of the past and a monument for the perseverance of the human spirit. The Robben Island Museum was created and has become a centerpiece for the "new" South Africa.

After the ferry ride, we walked from the harbor to the prison where our tour guide brought us into a large room to begin the discussion. He started by telling us the story of his arrest. Our tour guide was a political prisoner on the island for over 10 years and that realization added a different element to the experience. It was incredible to have a former prisoner recount his experience in the prison. He talked about punishments that prisoners received for not following the rules. Guards would bury men neck-deep in the dirt and urinate in their mouths. Also, the racial factions that existed throughout the rest of apartheid South Africa were maintained while in prisoner. Black men received less food than their colored prison mates and they were treated vastly different as well. They worked in the limestone quarry which had long-term effects on their health from respiratory problems to blindness. Prisoners lived and worked in these inhumane conditions while serving sentences for "crimes" against the apartheid regime.

After the prison tour, we got on the bus and a different tour guide took us around the island to see the leper's graveyard and church, and the precinct village where the guards and their families lived. Today, the village houses the employees of the museum. There is a school on the island which was just closed in 2011 because of low enrollment. Children must take a ferry to school each morning and they often cannot attend school because of the rough seas. At the end of the island, we were able to get out to experience an incredible view of the oceans and Cape Town.

On the bus, the tour guide had asked where everyone was from. People came from Germany, Holland, England, Sweden, Jamaica, and the U.S. She thanked all of us for playing such a significant role in the end of apartheid, since many western nations had sanctioned the South Africa government in an effort to advocate equal rights. Finally, she encouraged us all to tell others about what we had seen and learned about Robben Island and to teach about the triumph of humanity.

References:

Coombes, A. E. (2003). History after apartheid: Visual culture and public memory in  democratic South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press.