Robben Island Museum

From the 17th to the 20th centuries, Robben Island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum, a poignant reminder to the newly democratic South Africa of the price paid for freedom.- more info

The prison was converted into a museum that commemorates “the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.” Tours are guided by ex-prisoners who narrate their own experiences at the prison, including a walking tour along its main building and Section A, where visitors can watch the “Cell Stories” exhibition, which tells the story of the political prisoners who were incarcerated there. The tours include other parts of the island, such as the stone quarry, where prisoners faced with forced labor.
Robben Island Museum (RIM) is a public entity responsible for managing, maintaining, presenting, developing and marketing Robben Island as a national estate and World Heritage Site. It was established by the Department of Arts and Culture in 1997.

In 1652, during the Dutch colonization of South Africaslaves and prisoners of war were sent to Robben Island, situated opposite to Cape Town and Table Mountain, to chop stone and seashell that would then be used to build homes. In 1795, a British military expedition took control of the Cape and continued to use the island as a prison. In 1846, the prison was repurposed into a hospital to isolate lepers and lunatics. Despite the fact that the island was being used for healthcare purposes, it was still receiving prisoners!

Apartheid (“apartness” in the language of Afrikaans)—an institutionalized racial segregation system that existed in certain geographical regions—was established in South Africa and Namibia from 1948 until 1990. In 1959. A maximum-security prison started to operate on Robben Island to incarcerate both ordinary and political prisoners. Prisoners were subject to different food, clothing and working conditions and also to different punishments on the basis of their colour, along with a daily routine devised to destroy their humanity.

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist who would later become president of South Africa—was convicted of sabotage and served 18 of his 27 years in prison on Robben Island. In 1967, when the harsh prison system in place was slightly eased, political prisoners were allowed to talk during working hours at a stone quarry situated in other part of the island. The quarry became a place where they could share information, deliver political education to inmates, and write songs to express their grievances against guards. Prior to being transferred to another prison, in 1982, Nelson Mandela had already become an international leader in the fight against apartheid.

Due to the many strikes, confrontations and international pressure, this segregationist policy gradually weakened and in 1990, the government started to dismantle apartheid, with Nelson Mandela being released from jail and black political organizations gaining legal status. In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections. The last prisoners left Robben Island in 1991 and the prison was formally closed in 1996. Many ex-prisoners were actively engaged in the post-apartheid political scene, and three of them were elected presidents of South Africa: Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma.