chapter 4 · 2016. 2. 23. · chapter 4 historic development of the site 36 introduction ... w e re...

CHAPTER 4HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE

36

INTRODUCTION

Robben Island’s history is often described as multi-layered,

as different authorities used the Island for different purposes

during different periods – extracting resources, imprisoning

and banishing people, isolating the ‘diseased’, and as a

static battleship. Despite the varied regimes and purpose

of the Island, many similarities and continuities are evident,

for example, the exploitation of resources, often through

hard labour and segregation according to status, class,

‘race’, or gender – often the custodians were ‘white’ and

the imprisoned or isolated ‘black’ After 1963 all the warders

were ‘white’ and the prisoners ‘black’. ‘White’ prisoners,

with the exception of Tsafendas were not incarcerated on

Robben Island.

Tsafendas was the assassin of Verwoerd, Prime Minister

of South Africa and architect of apartheid. Tsefendas had

been classified as ‘white’ despite having a ‘black’ mother.

Shortly before the assassination, Tsafendas, having fallen

in love with a coloured woman, applied for reclassification

as coloured. For more details see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Tsafendas

Responses to ill-treatment also show continuities in the

form of resistance and attempted escapes, by struggling

for better conditions, by smuggling articles or messages,

and by engaging in activities to organise and provide sports,

education and recreation. Resistance and spirituality are

themes that recur throughout the layered history of Robben

Island.

PRE-COLONIAL ERA1

Robben Island, originally part of the mainland, forms a

pinnacle of an ancient, now submerged mountain. Over

the last 700 000 years on twelve different occasions, rising

and falling sea levels changed the shape of the outcrop

that became an Island. The most recent change occurred

about 12 000 years ago after the last Ice Age when the

sea level rose and created a channel between the Island

and the mainland.2

Three pre-colonial archaeological sites have been found

on Robben Island, two containing stone tools and the third

containing fossilised mammal bones. The former are very

ephemeral stone artefact scatters, consisting of quartz

irregular cores and flakes. The sites with stone tools are

close to each other, situated in an area west of the Maximum

Security Prison (MSP). The third site, containing fossilised

mammal bones of Eland and the now extinct Rhebok, is

below ground level adjacent to the waste management

plant in the northeastern area of the Island.

The first recorded landing on Robben Island in recent

history indicates that a group of Portuguese sailors took

refuge there and stayed overnight in a cave in 1498. A

further visit documented by sailors, records that there were

thousands of seals and penguins, and also many tortoises,

inhabiting the Island; and in 1503 sailors killed and feasted

on these resources. This began Robben Island’s role as

a source of fresh food for sailors en route to or from the

East Indies. Later in the 1600s sailors left sheep to fatten

on the Island’s grass and shrubs; however human

occupation was limited and of short duration until the

establishment of a Dutch settlement at the Cape.3

COLONIAL EXPANSIONISMAND BANISHMENT

Vereenigde Oost-Indishe Compagnie (VOC) period

(1652-1795)After the Dutch established a permanent settlement at the

Cape in 1652, they soon realised the usefulness of the

Island as a place for growing vegetables, as well as for

keeping domestic animals, such as sheep and cattle to

supply passing ships. Rabbits were also introduced to

supplement the supply of fresh meat. There were attempts

to control the extraction of the resources even then, as

Jan van Riebeeck issued strict instructions that passing

vessels limit their Island foraging to one penguin per two

sailors per day.

However, the Island changed over time, particularly its

flora and fauna, as humans exerted pressure on the

resources and brought new species as well. Many of the

species introduced in this way have become part of Robben

Island’s cultural landscape as we know it today, reflecting

a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of numerous layers.

Sailors sketched domestic animals

Within a few years the Dutch found a new role for Robben

Island as a secure site for imprisoning opponents of the

Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oost-Indishe

Compagnie (VOC) from both the Cape and the East Indies.

These prisoners were sent to the Island for punitive exile.

The earliest recorded Robben Island prisoners were slaves

and prisoners of war (POW) brought from the East Indies

in 1657. These prisoners however, were soon joined in

1658 by the earliest indigenous prisoners to be sent to the

Island, namely Autshumato, a leader of the Khoi, and three

other prisoners. In addition, common law prisoners were

also housed on the Island in order to perform hard labour.

The prisoners were forced to cut stone and mine lime,

which was used to build some of the early structures at

the Cape. Later, prisoners also burnt shells for lime, lit the

signal fires and tended the company’s sheep on the Island.

After 1722, political and religious leaders from the East

Indies, where the VOC was fighting for control over the

lands with which it traded, were sent in greater numbers

to Robben Island. In order to differentiate leaders who had

been exiled, from other political and common law prisoners,

leaders did not endure forced labour and were given

allowances.

The Muslim influence on Robben Island is manifest in a

kramat and unmarked graves of Muslim exiles who died

there. A simple shrine was erected to mark the death of

an Asian Prince of Madura, Pangerau Chakra Deningrat.

Although his body was sent back to his place of birth, the

burial of the Prince of Madura is currently symbolised by

the kramat. There are a number of other gravesites in the

area including that of Hadjie Matarim who died on Robben

Island in 1755

Another event that marks Muslim history in South Africa

was the writing of an important text on Islamic jurisprudence

by Tuan Guru, a prince from Tidore in the Ternate Islands,

who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1780 until

1793. The imprisonment of Muslim leaders from the East

on the Island has therefore left an indelible mark on the

people of the Cape.

British occupation (1795-1802; 1806-1910)After the British took over from the Dutch, they continued

to use the Island as a favourite place of banishment for

indigenous leaders who opposed colonial expansion and

land dispossession both in the eastern and northern regions

of the Cape Colony and later in Natal as well. Chiefs who

led the resistance against the British advancement were

seen as a hindrance to European civilisation and needed

to be silenced.4

For almost the entire nineteenth century, numerous leaders

of Xhosa, Khoi, Gcaleka in the Eastern Cape, the Korana

in Northern Cape, and the Hlubi in Natal, were banished

to the Island at different times. They constructed and lived

in crude structures in their traditional style to the north of

the bay, geographically separated from the village in the

southeast.

During the later years of Dutch rule at the Cape, the Dutch

cattle farmers trekked east and north from Cape Town.

Initially they clashed with the Khoikhoi and San inhabitants,

and later also with the Xhosa in the Zuurveld. The more

numerous Xhosa who had settled in these areas many

years earlier, were also cattle farmers. The resulting, often

violent, clashes over land and cattle continued for over

one hundred years involving nine frontier wars, or wars of

dispossession, the last ending in 1878. Under British

colonialism, from 1806, a combination of guile and warfare

to increase the Dutch and British settlers’ landholdings

resulted in the diminishing power of indigenous leaders to

resist the continual annexation of land. The final annexation

of land on the East Coast was that of Pondoland in 1879,

giving the Cape Colony governance over the land stretching

over 1 000 km to the southern border of Natal.

It is interesting to note that the people of Pondoland engaged

in one of the most extensive revolts against the apartheid

system in 1960.

Clashes between the British and Khoi led to the arrest and

imprisonment on Robben Island of David Stuurman in

1809. This was followed by the arrest and banishment of

Makhanda, an important Xhosa leader, and a number of

his followers in 1819.5 Another group of Xhosa chiefs

including Maqoma, Fadana, Stokwe and others, were sent

to the Island in the 1850s.6 After the last war of dispossession

in 1877-78, fourteen Xhosa leaders, including the sons of

Maqoma and Sandile were imprisoned on Robben Island.

They were separated from other prisoners in a wooden

hut near Murray’s Bay.7


37

The kramat as it is today

Diagrams illustrating the expansion of British colonialism

There are incidents of descendants of Xhosa chiefs who

were banished to the Island in the late 1800s being imprisoned

there under apartheid over one hundred years later.

In the northwestern borderlands of the Cape Colony, white

farmers living south of the Orange River came into conflict

with the Korana people as their encroachment deprived

local inhabitants of their grazing land and sources of water

for their livestock.8 This sparked confrontation and resistance

from the Korana people who, under their chiefs, waged

war against this colonial intrusion. By 1870 the conflict

resulted in the capture of several Korana chiefs, three of

whom were seen by the colonialists as the most dangerous

– Jan Kivido, Piet Rooy and Carel Ruiters. They were

convicted and banished to Robben Island where they

served their sentences.9

In 1879 another Korana chief named Lucas, with a number

of other leaders captured by the British, were also sent to

the Island. Lucas died on the Island in 1880 while serving

his sentence.10 Most of the Koranas were categorised as

convicts and were housed in a room adjacent to the convict

station on the edge of the Village.11 These were, however,

not the only chiefs imprisoned as there were others

imprisoned on the mainland as well. In addition, the British

conflict with the Hlubi in Natal led to the banishment of

Chief Langalibalele to the Island in 1874.

Between 1880 and 1884 all the indigenous leaders banished

or imprisoned on Robben Island, were either pardoned

and released or transferred to the Breakwater Prison at

Table Bay Harbour where they worked in the docks.12

GENERAL INFIRMARY– ROBBEN ISLAND AS A PLACEOF EXCLUSION (1846-1931)

13

In 1846 a General Infirmary was established on Robben

Island to cater for three specific categories of the sick in

the colony who were poor – the insane, the chronically ill,

and those with leprosy. As new facilities were developed

for the mentally ill and the chronically ill on the mainland,

the Infirmary was gradually reduced in scope. However

this period is remembered primarily for the isolation of

people with leprosy. While introducing progressive methods

of treating mental illness, forms of punishment were at

times extremely harsh. Patients were segregated on the

basis of race, class and gender, as Robben Island reflected

the predominant attitudes and values of the time. This

subsequently led the way to implementing a policy of formal

racial segregation in the wards at various stages from the

1860s, and provided an example of racial segregation that

was followed by many other Cape institutions in the 1890s.

By accepting the patients least likely to be cured, the

Robben Island Infirmary smoothed the work of hospitals

and gaols on the mainland, and removed from the streets

those people whom middle-class Cape Town found most

threatening to their social order. The social and medical

profile of the Robben Island patient made the General

Infirmary more of a place of exclusion for those who weighed

heavily on the hands of government, than a place of healing.

Another motivation for the establishment of the General

Infirmary on Robben Island was for economic reasons,

being a place with “an abundance of stone, lime and

labour”.14 Putting the chronically ill, those with leprosy and

the mentally ill together in one place as opposed to being

scattered in hospitals on the mainland would relieve the

tax burden.

Major changes occurred in the 1890s, as, in the context

of xenophobia in western countries, there was growing

fear that the disease of leprosy was spreading at the Cape.

An outcome of this fear was the enactment of the Cape

Leprosy Repression Act of 1891, which required that all

sufferers from this disease be isolated from society in

leprosaria. The choice of compulsory segregation as the

primary solution to the problem was specifically related to

racist fears that the spread of leprosy, largely identified as

a ‘black disease’, would not be halted by education or


38

Maqoma

Nursing staff of the Female Mental Asylum

Male leprosy patients celebratingChristmas

Female leprosy patients celebratingChristmas

Langalibalele

voluntary measures. This compulsory segregation was

rarely implemented in other countries.

At this time Robben Island was the only leprosarium in the

colony and it was swamped in 1892 by the unexpectedly

large number of people with leprosy, black and white, who

were classified under the Act. When other leprosaria were

built in that decade, Robben Island continued to house the

majority of the patients (close to a thousand at any one

time). It was specifically used to detain escapees or patients

who protested in other ways against their incarceration in

mainland hospitals.

However, as treatment improved over time, a growing

number of people with leprosy were diagnosed as non-

infectious and were allowed to leave the Island. The

leprosaria were closed in 1931 due to rising costs and

decreasing caseloads, thus ending Robben Island’s many

years as a place of exclusion for those who were sick and

marginalised by South African society because of their

disease.

The Role of the ChurchDuring the period of the General Infirmary when hundreds

of people with leprosy were isolated on Robben Island, the

Christian church was very active and became an important

source of spiritual comfort. At the peak of the involvement

of the church, there were as many as seven consecrated

churches on the Island, representing the Anglican, Dutch

Reformed Church and Roman Catholic Church. In addition,

pastors representing the Moravian and other church

denominations visited the Island regularly to conduct

services and to provide pastoral care. A number of churches

were constructed at different times on the Island, including

those built for specific groups, such as women with leprosy.

Most of the churches were constructed in the leprosaria

and, with the exception of the Church of the Good Shepherd,

were demolished in the early 1930s, along with the wards,

houses and other structures of the leprosaria.

The construction of separate churches for Dutch Reformed,

Catholic and Anglican congregations suggests a degree

of interdenominational rivalry at the time. That separate

churches were built for men and for women in their

respective settlements, illustrates the strict segregation of

male and female leprosy patients.15

The role of the Christian church in the history of Robben

Island, however, is an ambivalent one. On one hand, the

church was an important source of spiritual comfort to

those who were forcibly moved to the Island and to their

custodians. On the other hand, the church was seen to be

an extension and a partner of the colonial administration,

as it was perceived to do little to challenge the authorities

or champion the rights of patients.16 There are some

chaplains who are said to have actually sought biblical

justification for the continued isolation of those suffering

from disease, for instance, the church did not speak out

against the segregation of people with leprosy from society.

In one case, individuals with leprosy refused to listen to

their ministers sermonising about ‘lepers’ in the bible.

However to simply dismiss the importance of the church

in providing spiritual strength to leprosy patients is as

dangerous as to completely embrace it without critical

evaluation. Thus despite the church at times collaborating

with the state, it was an important institution that played a

major role in the lives of the people of the Island in different

periods of time.

MILITARY DEFENCE (1939-1945)17

During WW2 Robben Island was chosen as the key site

to protect Table Bay and Cape Town from threat of enemy


39

All leprosarium wards were demolished in the 1930s because of a fear thatthe disease would spread and contaminate people moving into the buildings

In 1939 150 000 tons of equipment was transported to the IslandLeprosarium ward c1900

attack. Its role changed during the war from that of a static

battleship and a battery of 9,2” guns to an anti-submarine

detector station. Artillery training took place through most

of the war. To facilitate these varied functions, gun batteries

and related fortifications, new buildings for accommodation,

storerooms, an airstrip and numerous other structures were

built. This required the landing of 150 000 tons of equipment

and material on the Island. To cater for this, the first priority

was the construction of a harbour capable of landing the

material. A large labour force was required for the building

of the harbour and other structures, and approximately

2 000 workers, possibly rising to 5 000 at times, were

engaged in this major project.

Although the 9,2” and 6” batteries were never used against

enemy craft, they played a crucial role in training coastal

and anti-aircraft gunners, many of whom served in North

Africa. A majority of the people, including black men and

white women who served and were trained on Robben

Island during the war, were trained out of public view to

abide by the official position that black men should not be

armed. Unofficially, many men of the Cape Corps, a black

unit, were armed and trained in order to perform duties in

the rear, including the guarding of prisoners of war. However,

2 000 men of the Cape Corps were trained in gunnery on

Robben Island and did duty as coastal gunners on the

Island or engaged in active combat with anti-aircraft

regiments in North Africa.

As white male soldiers departed to serve in North Africa,

many opportunities arose for white women by the creation

of new units, including artillery specialists in the Women’s

Auxiliary Army Service (ASWAAS) and harbour defence

operators in the South African Auxiliary Naval Service

(SWANS). Training of over four hundred women in the

ASWAAS took place at the artillery school on Robben

Island, after which a number of these women continued to

serve in the batteries on the Island. The SWANS played

a key role in operating the various detection systems.

Conditions on the Island during this period continued to

be more difficult for black people who were segregated

and housed in inferior accommodation – the Cape Corps

were housed in a derelict building and then in tents in the

northern region of the Island close to the Cornelia Battery,

and African workers engaged in construction were housed

in a ‘native compound’ on the site of the present-day

Maximum Security Prison (MSP), just west of the harbour.

In contrast, white women were housed in the Village or

‘Logistics’ and were closely guarded at night. White soldiers

and engineers were in barracks in the Village or in the

southern region of the Island, thus continuing the geographic

separation according to race and gender, to a degree.18

This institutionalised racial segregation on the Island,

ironically, took place during a war against Fascism and

Nazism.

Another continuity was the use of the Island as a place of

imprisonment – a group of Vichy prisoners of war were

housed on the Island after they were captured during the

interception of a Vichy fleet that sailed from Madagascar

and attempted to reach West Africa.19 After WW2 a small

prison holding approximately 60 long-term prisoners

sentenced to hard labour was established on the Island.

These common law prisoners maintained the roads and

kept the Island clean, and were also available to work for

the Island’s residents as gardeners or domestic workers.20

Thus imprisonment, segregation and discrimination

remained part of the daily life of the Island even during

times of war against others who also committed social

injustices. The large Island population at this time also

brought with it its negative environmental impact, including

a near decimation of the penguin colony.


40

Manning the guns

SWANS training

SWANS at work

APARTHEID PRISON (1961-1994)

The South African Navy handed control of Robben Island

to the Prison Services on 24 March 1961. This was to mark

the beginning of the most notorious period of the Island’s

history with the establishment of a Maximum Security

Prison (MSP).

The years 1960 and 1961 were a key turning point in South

Africa’s recent history, after a decade of peaceful protest

and mass actions during which the principles of Gandhi’s

satyagraha protest action held sway.

Satyagraha is roughly translated as non-violent force. It is

interesting to note that Gandhi developed his ideas of

passive resistance or non-violent force in South Africa while

struggling to improve the civil rights of Indians in South

Africa. The Natal Indian Congress formed in 1894 became

an ally of the ANC in the 1950s and a number of their

members were incarcerated on Robben Island. Albert

Luthuli, President of the ANC in the 1950s and awarded

The Nobel Peace Prize, as well as other members of the

Congress Alliance were very influenced by Gandhi’s ideas.

In March 1960 the apartheid state responded violently to

protests against ‘pass laws’ in various places, including

Sharpeville (south of the city of Johannesburg) and Langa

(in Cape Town), as well as in Pondoland (in the former

Transkei). The Pondoland revolt against the imposition of

Bantu Authorities and control over land, was a widespread

uprising in 1960 in the Transkei area of the Eastern Cape.

In crushing the uprising many hundreds of men were

arrested and a number were sent to, and imprisoned on,

Robben Island. Despite being charged with offences under

the common law, these men can be regarded as the first

political prisoners on the Island under apartheid.

Pass Laws were used by colonial authorities and again by

the apartheid regime to control movement of people. After

the discovery of gold and diamonds, pass laws were

implemented for those men classified as African in order

to minimise the extent of urbanisation and restrict the

majority of Africans to rural areas. Passes were one of the

most hated of the apartheid laws and thus a key target of

protest actions in the 1950s, especially after the state

extended the pass laws to include African women.

In an attempt to defeat the liberation struggle, the apartheid

regime created numerous laws with the result that large

numbers of Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), African National

Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party

(SACP) members (cadres) were arrested, tried and

sentenced to different periods of imprisonment. The

apartheid regime moved swiftly to ban organisations

opposed to it and introduced legislation that outlawed even

discussion of opposition to the state through armed struggle.

After being banned, both the ANC and the PAC re-

established themselves clandestinely and formed armed

wings, (the ANC established uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) and

the PAC set up Poqo in 1961) to continue the struggle

against the regime and its harsh, discriminatory laws.


41

Arrival of a group of common law prisoners

The Maximum Security Prison

An example of a pass book Burning the passes

PAC march in Langa, Cape Town

Passive Resisters, 1908

South African Communist Party meeting 1945

Despite three members of the SACP’s central committee

being imprisoned on Robben Island, the SACP took a

decision not to establish party structures on the Island in

order to minimise conflicts in the ANC’s ranks.

By the end of 1964 hundreds of political prisoners had

been shipped to Robben Island and placed alongside the

common law prisoners previously held on the Island.21

Hardened criminals were also introduced and used by the

prison authorities to engage in brutal acts to subdue and

break the spirit of the political prisoners. Many of the

warders were cruel, barbaric and participated in acts against

the political prisoners, encouraging the criminals to do

likewise.22 This made life and the already-harsh conditions

even more difficult, for example, the poor food and sparse

diet was worsened by common law prisoners who worked

in the kitchens smuggling out the food meant for political

prisoners; prisoners were given minimal clothing, for

example, the African majority were only given short pants

and no underwear. In addition there was a total lack of

regard for basic human rights, for example, there were no

beds – only thin mats that were placed on the cold cement

floor; forced hard labour was often accompanied by beatings

and torture; there was a news blackout – no radios or

newspapers were allowed; and many other petty regulations

were enforced that made prison life extremely difficult.23

Only black men were imprisoned on Robben Island and,

after the transfer to the mainland of coloured warders, all

the warders were white males. The segregation of blacks

to the northern part of the Island continued, with prisoners

initially housed in the Ou Tronk (Old Jail) and then also in

the Zink Tronk (Zinc Jail) while the prisoners built the new

MSP in which they were then incarcerated. Relations

between the prisoners and the warders were exacerbated

by differences in age, education and even class – many

political prisoners were older, well educated and from

middle-class backgrounds, whereas the warders were often

from poor working-class backgrounds and had little

education. The latter had been indoctrinated into believing

that the political prisoners were terrorists, murderers and

rapists. The brutal treatment meted out by some guards

was partly a result of what they perceived black men to be.

Isolation, so symbolic of Robben Island, was continuously

put into practice; however from the 1960s until the recent

political dispensation, it was more widely enforced. The

prisoners who were regarded as political leaders or seen

to be influential were isolated from the general prison

population and placed in single cells in B-Section. This

section became increasingly well known as the leadership

section, as leading figures from all the liberation movements

were placed here – leaders of the ANC, the PAC, Yu Chi

Chan Club, African People’s Democratic Union of South

Africa (APDUSA), as well as from Namibia’s South West

African People’s Organisation (SWAPO). The following

leaders, for instance, shared this section – four members

of the ANC’s executive, including Govan Mbeki and Walter

Sisulu; leading figures of the PAC, such as Zeph Mothopeng,

Clarence Makwetu and Jeff Masemola; Toivo ya Toivo of

SWAPO; Neville Alexander of the Yu Chi Chan Club; Kader

Hassim of APDUSA; and Eddie Daniels, the solitary member

of the Liberal Party on Robben Island. However, some

very influential figures, including Harry Gwala and Johnson

Mlambo, remained within the general prison population.24

Robert Sobukwe, the charismatic leader of the PAC, was

held in solitary confinement in a house some distance

away from the MSP. He was not allowed to communicate

with anybody including his warders who were ordered not


42

MK cadres training

Rivonia Trialists

to speak to him. Sobukwe could only communicate

symbolically with other prisoners by using various gestures.

Some of the conditions improved due to the struggles

described below, and in conjunction with outside

organisations and even legal actions – better quality food,

especially after the common law prisoners were removed

from the kitchen, study opportunities, and, in the mid-1970s,

hot water for showering, and beds were introduced.

Changes and improvements were, however, not a smooth

progression, as a new prison head or a change in the

government’s approach could turn the clock back. Continual

shifts in the regulations resulted in the suspension of

studies, often preventing new arrivals from studying at

university or post-graduate level. From 1975 visits were

restricted to first-degree relatives only, thus impacting

considerably on many prisoners who relied on other family

members and were now further isolated from the outside

world.25

The 1970s witnessed a new wave of resistance against

apartheid led by black consciousness activists and

supported by a vast number of black school and university

students and workers. Student and community organisations

such as the Soweto Student Representative Council

(SSRC), South African Student Movement (SASM) and

the Black Parents Committee (BPC) among others, all

raised the political temperature through their opposition to

apartheid.

A key trigger to the student uprisings of 1976 was the further

implementation of the apartheid government’s Bantu

Education policy in that school subjects had to be taught

through the medium of Afrikaans and English despite the

lack of teachers who could teach in Afrikaans.

As a result of their activities, there was an influx of new

militant prisoners to the MSP on Robben Island. They

introduced ‘black power’ slogans and symbols of resistance

and refused to accede to warders’ demands. Thus they

had a considerable impact on the prevailing atmosphere,

where the long-term prisoners had adopted a more

conciliatory approach. The prison authorities responded

by isolating many of the South African Students Organisation

(SASO) and Black Consciousness Movement (BCM)

leaders, as well as captured MK guerrillas, in A-Section,

and built high walls between many of the sections in order

to minimise contact between the prisoners.

As time passed, there was much pressure from within the

prison and from the outside world for change in conditions

inside the prison as well as in South Africa, and subsequently

the lives of prisoners improved – hard labour was ended,

skills training was introduced, and access to news

broadcasts and newspapers was allowed for A category

prisoners.

In the 1980s many of the long-term prisoners were released

or transferred, including the release of the Namibian political

prisoners and transfer to Pollsmoor Prison of most of the

Rivonia trialists. There were however, new arrivals of

prisoners who now included more captured MK guerrillas

and, after the Vaal Uprising and general unrest from 1983

onwards, a steady flow into the prison of young United

Democratic Front (UDF) and Azanian Peoples Organisation

(AZAPO) activists. Several ex-political prisoners received

second periods of imprisonment on Robben Island, including

Zeph Mothopeng and Harry Gwala. At the same time,

hunger strikes continued to play a role in the struggle to

improve prison conditions.


43

Robert Sobukwe on Robben Island

Meeting of Black Consciousness students and parents

United Democratic Front rally

Sport and cultural activities were encouraged by the

leadership of the prisoners and played a major role in the

prisoners’ lives, while studies, formal and informal, continued

to mould and shape many within the confines of the Robben

Island prison. After the unbanning of political and other

organisations in 1990, groups of prisoners were released,

until the last political prisoners departed from the Island in

1991. Jeff Masemola, a craftsman and an artist, was the

longest serving political prisoner on Robben Island who

spent 26 years of his life imprisonment sentence in the

MSP. Others who were sentenced to life imprisonment

included the Rivonia Trialists, Petros Mashigo, Johnson

Lubisi, Neph Manana, David Moisi, and numerous others.

There were of course conflicts that occurred between

organisations, between generations, and between

individuals, for example, over strategy and tactics in the

prison and the wider political struggle, or over ideological

and other differences – something that would be expected

in any dynamic society. However, the overriding solidarity

of prisoners to organise themselves against a common

‘enemy’ is an important legacy of this period in the life of

the evolving South African political landscape.

During their incarceration most prisoners engaged in

activities that were meant to equip them with tools for the

future. These activities were carried out as part of the

political agenda and included debates, studies,

organisational activities, and training. The results of this

‘training’ can clearly be seen in the present free South

Africa where, upon their release, many ex-political prisoners

engaged in struggle activities, often taking leadership roles.

Thus during and after the transition to a democratic society,

many ex-prisoners played, and continue to play, key roles

in many sectors of society. This has particularly been

epitomised by Nelson Mandela when he assumed the

mantle of president of the government of a free South

Africa in 1994.26

A powerful symbol of humanity and a product of Robben

Island, Nelson Mandela and his comrades Govan Mbeki

and Walter Sisulu, among many, were victims of

discrimination, incarceration and isolation. These were

people denied their rights for over a quarter of a century.

Together, and jointly with their comrades and all those who

were jailed in Robben Island and other prisons in South

Africa, they all suffered. They all never gave up, but came

out fighting, preaching and practicing forgiveness and

reconciliation. Despite all the difficulties there was a creation

of a ‘rainbow nation’, South Africa. Robben Island therefore

stands out as a symbol of suffering, truth, as well as

forgiveness.

RESISTANCE TO OPPRESSIONTHROUGH THE NINETEENTH ANDTWENTIETH CENTURIES

One of the underlying themes of the history of Robben

Island in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is

that of resistance to oppression. To end this chapter this

theme is analysed in more detail.

The underlying reason for the banishment of indigenous

leaders to Robben Island in the nineteenth century was


44

Soccer became one of the most popular sports to partake in. The soccertrophy was designed by Thabo Ngcobo and by D.J. Mpahlwa in the PrisonWorkshop in the early 1980s

Jeff Masemola on his release in 1989

Mandela and Sisulu in the Isolation Block courtyard

their resistance to colonial expansion. This often took the

form of skirmishes, battles and even lengthy wars against

the colonial powers. By banishing or imprisoning such

leaders on Robben Island, the colonial governments hoped

to isolate leaders from their people and break their spirit

of resistance. Their imprisonment failed to achieve this as,

whenever possible, they returned to rekindle the flame of

anti-colonialism. Resistance to banishment and

imprisonment down the years took various forms with

escape being the predominant form in earlier years.

Escapes in the nineteenth century included that of David

Stuurman, who, with Hans Trompetter, had been in the

forefront of the Khoi-led war of 1799 to1803. Stuurman

successfully escaped in a rowing boat four months into his

imprisonment on the Island. He was recaptured only ten

years later and shipped to the Island with the first group

of Xhosa prisoners. Stuurman escaped for a second time

in 1820. Makhanda who arrived on the Island in 1819 spent

less than a year there before attempting to escape.

Apart from indigenous leaders imprisoned on the Island,

other people held on the Island against their will, such as

those with leprosy, also expressed their discontent in

various ways. In 1892 men with leprosy, led by Franz

Jacobs, a former teacher from Cape Town seriously

challenged the Leprosy Repression Act of 1891 and drafted

a petition to the authorities challenging their authority to

isolate people with leprosy on Robben Island. They also

demanded an improvement in their conditions. Later in

1893 women with leprosy went on strike, refusing to assist

in any kind of sanitary work including cleaning their wards

or sending their washing to the leprosarium laundry.27

Others wrote to local newspapers complaining about the

quality of food and water. Thus there has been resistance

and protests at all stages of the inhuman treatment that

has been meted out to people on Robben Island.

A spirit of resistance was again manifest in those who

fought against apartheid in the 1960s and were imprisoned

on Robben Island. Activists and leaders of various liberation

movements and anti-apartheid groups were arrested and

transported to Robben Island to serve their sentences,

often for ten to twenty years, including some sentenced to

life imprisonment. Political prisoners refused to allow the

prison system to break their spirit and engaged in a wide

range of activities that challenged it and the apartheid

authorities.

The political prisoners organised hunger strikes demanding

better treatment, formed clandestine prison cell and party

political structures, held political discussions to sharpen

their political consciousness, developed secret

communication channels to overcome the gap between

the isolation and general sections of the prison, and

challenged arbitrary rules and punishment. There were

other forms of resistance that included, fighting for the right

to pursue academic studies through correspondence,

petitions, and the use of legal channels to change prison

conditions.

Prisoners managed to engage in less direct forms of

resistance that were designed to keep their morale up and

break the feeling of imprisonment. ‘Struggle songs’ sung

rhythmically with work, sourcing food from alternative

sources other than that provided by the prison system, and

developing prison language with terms that were not

understood by warders, are examples of this indirect

resistance.

Thus in the process of attempting to break the morale of

the political prisoners, the prison system became a coarse

stone against which the prisoners sharpened themselves

and their resolve to liberate their country from an oppressive

and discriminatory system of government. In these ways

the survival and growth of the prisoners and their

organisations defeated the apartheid government’s aim of

destroying opposition to apartheid.28


45

Xhosa chiefs on Robben Island

Release of political prisoners in 1991

PLEASE SEE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWING THE

CHRONOLOGY OF ROBBEN ISLAND


46

DA

TE

KE

Y E

VE

NT

S I

N S

OU

TH

AF

RIC

A

Pre

-

14

88

Pre

-co

lon

ial

HIS

TO

RIC

AL

PE

RIO

DR

OL

E O

F A

ND

KE

Y E

VE

NT

S O

N R

OB

BE

N IS

LA

ND

• E

ffect of Ic

e A

ge im

pacte

d o

n s

ea le

vels

results

in c

ha

ng

ing

co

astlin

es,

20

00

0 to

4 0

00

be

fore

th

e p

rese

nt

• C

ap

e in

ha

bite

d b

y K

ho

isa

n g

rou

ps fro

m a

tle

ast 1

6 0

00

ye

ars

ag

o.

• D

ue

to

ris

ing

an

d fa

llin

g s

ea

le

ve

ls, a

t tim

es th

e Isla

nd

wa

s lin

ke

dto

th

e m

ain

lan

d.

• P

ossib

le p

eriodic

habitation a

nd e

xplo

itation o

f th

e n

atu

ral re

sourc

es

by th

e K

ho

isa

n liv

ing

in

th

e r

eg

ion

.

• S

ton

e-a

ge

art

efa

cts

use

d o

n R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

aro

un

d 1

6 0

00

ye

ars

ag

o, in

dic

atin

g K

ho

isa

n h

ab

ita

tio

n o

f th

e a

rea

.

14

88

-

16

52

Eu

rop

ea

n s

hip

s p

assin

g th

e tip

of A

fric

a d

uring e

xplo

ration a

nd

develo

pm

ent of a n

ew

maritim

e

tra

de

ro

ute

to

Asia

.

• P

assin

g o

f E

uro

pe

an

sh

ips.

• 1

49

8 –

First re

co

rde

d la

nd

ing

by V

asco

da

Ga

ma

’s fle

et.

• R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

fu

nctio

ne

d a

s a

so

urc

e o

f fo

od

(se

al, p

en

gu

in m

ea

t&

eg

gs)

an

d fre

sh

wa

ter.

• U

se

d a

s a

pla

ce

fo

r fa

tte

nin

g s

he

ep

to

su

pp

ly p

assin

g s

hip

s w

ith

fre

sh

me

at.

• R

obben Isla

nd u

sed a

s a

com

munic

ation o

utp

ost by s

ailo

rs for

oth

er

pa

ssin

g s

hip

s.

• 1

63

2-4

0 –

Au

tsh

um

ato

an

d o

the

r K

ho

i sta

ye

d o

n th

e Isla

nd

inte

rmitte

ntly.

16

52

-

17

95

VO

C p

erio

d –

colo

nia

l expansio

n o

f th

e D

utc

h

in S

ou

th E

ast A

sia

.

Re

sis

tan

ce

str

ug

gle

s le

d to

lea

de

rs b

ein

g c

ap

ture

d a

nd

exile

d.

• E

sta

blis

hm

en

t o

f a

pe

rma

ne

nt re

fre

sh

me

nt

sta

tio

n fo

r D

utc

h s

ailo

rs.

• D

utc

h b

eg

an

tra

nsp

ort

ing

sla

ve

s fro

m A

sia

an

d A

fric

a to

th

e C

ap

e in

16

58

.

• R

esis

tan

ce

to

Du

tch

exp

an

sio

nis

m in

So

uth

East A

sia

led to the b

anis

hm

ent of le

aders

to

Ro

bb

en

Isla

nd

.

• S

ettle

r expansio

n fro

m C

ape T

ow

n to the n

ort

ha

nd

ea

st le

d to

str

on

g r

esis

tan

ce

in

th

e e

ast

and the w

ars

of dis

possessio

n fro

m the 1

790s.

• M

eat fr

om

rabbits a

nd s

heep, and p

enguin

eggs s

upplie

d b

y R

obben

Isla

nd

.

• A

uts

hum

ato

and thre

e o

ther

Khoik

hoi banis

hed to R

obben Isla

nd in

16

58

.

• R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

fu

nctio

ne

d a

s a

priso

n fo

r co

mm

on

la

w a

nd

po

litic

al

priso

ne

rs fro

m c

16

57

.

• K

roto

a, a K

hoi w

om

an, is

banis

hed to R

obben Isla

nd in 1

669 w

here

sh

e d

ied

in

16

74

at th

e a

ge

of 3

1 y

ea

rs.

• E

ast A

sia

n e

xile

s im

priso

ne

d fro

m 1

68

2.

• Q

uarr

yin

g o

f sla

te a

nd lim

e to s

upply

build

ing n

eeds o

f C

ape T

ow

n.

17

95

-

18

02

First B

ritish o

ccupation –

during

British

/ F

ren

ch

wa

r.

• B

ritish

an

ne

xe

d th

e C

ap

e b

eca

use

of its

str

ate

gic

po

sitio

n.

• R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

fu

nctio

ne

d a

s a

priso

n m

ain

ly fo

r m

ilita

ry p

riso

ne

rs.

• Is

lan

d u

se

d a

s q

ua

ran

tin

e s

ite

fo

r th

ose

with

sm

allp

ox.

• W

ha

ling

rig

hts

gra

nte

d to

Jo

hn

Mu

rra

y.

18

03

-

18

06

Ba

tavia

n p

erio

d•

Pe

ace

Tre

aty

of A

mie

ns r

etu

rns th

e C

ap

e to

Ba

tavia

n R

ep

ub

lic.

• K

ho

i lo

st th

ird

wa

r o

f d

isp

osse

ssio

n in

18

03

and K

hoi le

ader,

Hans T

rom

petter,

captu

red.

• C

on

vic

t p

riso

n r

e-e

sta

blis

he

d.

• H

an

s T

rom

pe

tte

r b

an

ish

ed

to

th

e Isla

nd

.

• Jo

hn

Mu

rra

y fo

rce

d to

clo

se

th

e w

ha

ling

sta

tio

n o

n th

e Isla

nd

.


47

DA

TE

KE

Y E

VE

NT

S I

N S

OU

TH

AF

RIC

A

18

06

-

19

10

British

co

lon

ial p

erio

d –

pe

ace

en

de

d a

s B

rita

in a

nd

Fra

nce

en

ga

ge

in

Na

po

leo

nic

wa

rs.

Gro

win

g fe

ars

of le

pro

sy a

nd

conta

gio

n le

d to is

ola

ting p

eople

with

le

pro

sy in

ma

ny c

ou

ntr

ies

in 1

89

0s.

HIS

TO

RIC

AL

PE

RIO

DR

OL

E O

F A

ND

KE

Y E

VE

NT

S O

N R

OB

BE

N IS

LA

ND

• B

rita

in r

eo

ccu

pie

d th

e C

ap

e a

fte

r th

e d

efe

at

of B

ata

via

n s

old

iers

at B

attle

of B

lou

be

rg.

• X

ho

sa

an

d K

ho

i lo

se

Ba

ttle

of G

rah

am

sto

wn

during fifth

war

of dis

possessio

n in 1

819, and

ma

ny w

arr

iors

ca

ptu

red

.

• T

he C

olo

nia

l Secre

tary

in C

ape T

ow

n, M

onta

gu

intr

od

uce

d s

yste

m o

f co

nvic

t re

ha

bili

tatio

n.

• D

ecis

ion b

y M

onta

gu to e

sta

blis

h a

n infirm

ary

on the Isla

nd for

the c

hro

nic

ally

ill, p

eople

with

lep

rosy a

nd

th

e m

en

tally

ill.

• F

urt

he

r co

lon

ial e

xp

an

sio

n to

th

e e

ast a

nd

no

rth

sp

ark

ed

re

sis

tan

ce

by in

dig

en

ou

sle

ad

ers

.

• L

ep

rosy R

ep

ressio

n A

ct p

asse

d in

18

91

wa

sused to isola

te p

eople

with lepro

sy fro

m their

fam

ilie

s a

nd

co

mm

un

itie

s.

• 1

80

6 –

Wh

alin

g s

tatio

n r

e-e

sta

blis

he

d.

• 1809 –

David

Stu

urm

an im

prisoned b

ut escapes the s

am

e y

ear

with

oth

ers

.

• 1

80

8-1

84

6 –

Ro

bb

en

Isla

nd

use

d a

s a

priso

n fo

r m

ilita

ry, co

mm

on

law

an

d p

olit

ica

l p

riso

ne

rs.

• 1

81

9 –

La

rge

gro

up

of p

olit

ica

l p

riso

ne

rs b

rou

gh

t to

Ro

bb

en

Isla

nd

from

Easte

rn C

ape inclu

din

g M

akhanda, S

tuurm

an a

nd T

rom

petter.

• 1820 e

scape –

Uprisin

g a

nd e

scape o

f prisoners

inclu

din

g M

akhanda,

Stu

urm

an a

nd T

rom

petter

resulted in d

eath

s o

f som

e a

nd r

ecaptu

reo

f o

the

rs.

• W

ha

ling

sta

tio

n c

lose

d a

nd

re

str

ictio

ns p

lace

d o

n fis

hin

g v

esse

ls to

min

imis

e o

pp

ort

un

itie

s fo

r e

sca

pe

.

• 1820s –

Convic

t la

bour

org

anis

ed a

nd s

tone c

uttin

g a

nd li

me b

urn

ing

resu

me

d. A

bo

ut 1

0 p

er

ce

nt o

f th

e im

priso

ne

d a

re w

om

en

als

o d

oh

ard

la

bo

ur.

• R

elig

iou

s in

str

uctio

n fo

r co

nvic

ts b

eg

an

in

la

te 1

82

0s, fo

llow

ed

by

tea

ch

ing

of lit

era

cy a

nd

nu

me

racy.

• 1

84

6-1

93

1 –

Ro

bb

en

Isla

nd

as a

n in

firm

ary

fo

r p

eo

ple

with

le

pro

sy

(until 1931),

menta

lly ill

patients

(until 1921)

and the c

hro

nic

ally

sic

k(u

ntil 1

89

1).

• 1855-1

871 –

Robben Isla

nd h

oused X

hosa p

olit

ical prisoners

. K

aty

ispends tw

elv

e y

ears

with M

aqom

a, her

husband, on R

obben Isla

nd

afte

r h

is b

an

ish

me

nt to

th

e Isla

nd

.

• 1866-1

921 –

Robben Isla

nd r

eopened a

s a

convic

t sta

tion to p

rovid

ela

bo

ur

for

the

In

firm

ary

an

d fo

r th

e la

ter

co

nstr

uctio

n o

f th

e n

ew

lep

rosa

ria

.

• 1874-1

883 –

Polit

ical p

risoners

bro

ught fr

om

the E

aste

rn C

ape, N

ata

la

nd

No

rth

ern

Ca

pe

.

• 1

88

0s &

18

90

s –

Co

nstr

uctio

n o

f w

om

en

’s a

nd

me

n’s

le

pro

sa

ria

to

ho

use

la

rge

in

flu

x o

f p

eo

ple

with

le

pro

sy.

19

10

-

19

61

Un

ion

of S

ou

th A

fric

a.

So

uth

Afr

ica

gra

nte

d p

art

ial

ind

ep

en

de

nce

by B

rita

in.

19

39

-19

45

– W

W2

be

twe

en

Alli

es a

nd

Axis

co

un

trie

s.

• T

he A

nglo

-Boer

War,

1899-1

902, re

sults in a

ne

w c

on

stitu

tio

n th

at g

ive

s s

elf-r

ule

to

So

uth

Afr

ica

with

a h

ea

vily

qu

alif

ied

fra

nch

ise

.

• D

isco

nte

nte

d A

fric

an

s r

ea

ct b

y fo

rmin

g th

eS

ou

th A

fric

an

Na

tive

Na

tio

na

l C

on

gre

ss.

• 1

93

9-1

94

5 –

So

uth

Afr

ica

fo

ug

ht a

s m

em

be

ro

f th

e A

llie

d F

orc

es in

WW

2.

• 1

95

0s –

Ma

ss c

am

pa

ign

s a

ga

inst in

justice

sle

d b

y th

e A

NC

.

• 1

92

1 –

Co

nvic

t p

riso

n c

lose

d.

• 1

92

1 –

Me

nta

lly ill

are

tra

nsfe

rre

d fro

m R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

to

ma

inla

nd

.

• 1

93

1 –

Le

pro

sa

ria

clo

se

d a

nd

pe

op

le w

ith

le

pro

sy tra

nsfe

rre

d to

lep

rosa

ria

on

ma

inla

nd

.

• 1939-1

945 –

Defe

nces e

sta

blis

hed o

n R

obben Isla

nd to p

rote

ct T

able

Ba

y; tr

ain

ing

fo

r w

om

en

au

xili

arie

s a

nd

Ca

pe

Co

rps.

• 1945-1

959 –

Occupie

d b

y the a

rmy a

nd n

avy for

train

ing a

nd c

oasta

ld

efe

nce

.


48

DA

TE

KE

Y E

VE

NT

S I

N S

OU

TH

AF

RIC

AH

IST

OR

ICA

L P

ER

IOD

RO

LE

OF

AN

D K

EY

EV

EN

TS

ON

RO

BB

EN

IS

LA

ND

19

10

-

19

61

Un

ion

of S

ou

th A

fric

a.

So

uth

Afr

ica

gra

nte

d p

art

ial

ind

ep

en

de

nce

by B

rita

in.

19

39

-19

45

– W

W2

be

twe

en

Alli

es a

nd

Axis

co

un

trie

s.[co

nt]

• 1

96

0 –

PA

C a

nti-p

ass p

rote

sts

re

su

lt in

th

eS

ha

rpe

vill

e m

assa

cre

.

• G

overn

ment re

sponds b

y d

ecla

ring a

Sta

te o

fE

merg

ency a

nd b

annin

g li

bera

tion m

ovem

ents

.

• c1

95

6-1

96

0 –

Co

mm

on

la

w p

riso

n u

nd

er

na

vy c

on

tro

l.

• 1960 –

Decis

ion to c

hange the r

ole

of th

e Isla

nd fro

m that of a N

aval

tra

inin

g b

ase

to

a m

axim

um

se

cu

rity

priso

n.

• 1

96

0-1

96

1 –

In

cre

ase

in

th

e in

take

of co

mm

on

la

w p

riso

ne

rsim

priso

ne

d o

n th

e Isla

nd

.

• O

ffic

ial h

an

do

ve

r o

f th

e Isla

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y p

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et d

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s a

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se

um

, a

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e M

ayib

uye

Ce

ntr

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colle

ctions b

e incorp

ora

ted into

the m

useum

.

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99

4 –

Fiv

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re a

pp

oin

ted

to

th

e first ca

bin

et o

fd

em

ocra

tic S

ou

th A

fric

a

• 1

99

5 –

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un

ion

of e

x p

olit

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l p

riso

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rs o

n R

ob

be

n Isla

nd

ad

vis

es

tha

t th

e Isla

nd

be

co

me

s a

mu

se

um

• 1

99

7 –

RIM

ta

ke

s o

ve

r m

an

ag

em

en

t o

f th

e Isla

nd

, a

nd

th

e Isla

nd

de

cla

red

a N

atio

na

l M

on

um

en

t.

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99

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ntr

e b

eco

me

s p

art

of R

IM th

rou

gh

a 9

9-y

ea

ra

gre

em

en

t w

ith

UW

C.

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00

6 –

SA

HR

A d

ecla

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ob

be

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a N

atio

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erita

ge

Site

CONCLUSION

This chapter has discussed the historical layering of the

different periods; the continuities of imprisonment and

banishment; of isolation and segregation; of hardship and

punishment. An enduring aspect of the history is that in

this context of hardship, an element of resistance has been

present. The forms of resistance in the era of the apartheid

prison were such that that those released were regarded

as graduates of Robben Island. The refusal by those

imprisoned to give up their dignity in the face of oppression

and their attempt to reach out even to those oppressing

them, testifies not only to the resilience of the human spirit

under trying circumstances, but also to the building of a

culture of tolerance and reconciliation.29

Robben Island’s symbolism of freedom and resistance to

oppression of both colonialism and apartheid therefore

becomes a beacon of hope for those who face oppression,

discrimination and torture in all its various forms.


49

ENDNOTES

1 - Hart, T., Halkert, D. and Mutti, B. ’Baseline ArchaeologicalAssessment of Robben Island’, Report prepared for RIM as inputto the Environmental Management Plan, Robben Island, 1998,pp. 3-4.

2 - Deacon, H. et al, ‘The Robben Island Timeline’, in A. Kathrada,The Robben Island Exhibition Esiqithini, Cape Town: South AfricanMuseum and Mayibuye Books, Cape Town: SA Museum andMayibuye Books, 1996, p. 13.

3 - Penn, N., ‘Robben Island 1488-1805’, in H. Deacon (ed) TheIsland, A History of Robben Island 1488-1990, Cape Town:Mayibuye Books and David Philip, 1996, p. 11.

4 - Knight, I., Warrior Chiefs of Southern Africa, Riverside: FirebirdBooks, 1994, p. 176.

5 - Hodgson, J., ‘Xhosa Chiefs in Cape Town in the Mid 19thCentury’, Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 1984, p. 45.

6 - Hodgson, J., ‘Xhosa Chiefs’, pp. 45-51.

7 - Deacon, H. 1996 ‘The British prison on Robben Island 1800-1896’, in H. Deacon (ed), The Island, A History of Robben Island1488-1990, Cape Town: Mayibuye Books and David Philip, 1996,p. 55.

8 - Strauss, T., War Along the Orange: The Korana and theNorthern Border Wars of 1868-9 and 1878-9, Cape Town, Centrefor African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1979.

9 - Deacon, H., ‘The British Prison’, p. 54.

10 - Strauss, T., ‘War along the Orange’, p. 115.

11 - Deacon, H., ‘The British Prison’. p. 56.

12 - Deacon, H., ‘The British Prison’, pp. 55-56.

13 - This section is a reworking of pages 19-20 of the RobbenIsland ‘Nomination Dossier for World Heritage Site Listing’ whichdraws on the works of Harriet Deacon for its history of the Infirmary.

14 - Montagu quoted in Deacon, H. ‘The Medical Institutions onRobben Island 1846-1931’ in H. Deacon (ed), ‘The Island, AHistory of Robben Island 1488-1990’, Cape Town: MayibuyeBooks and David Philip, 1996, p. 57.

15 - Deacon, H., ’Patterns of Exclusion on Robben Island, 1654-2000’ in A. Bashford, and C. Strange, (eds) Isolation. London:Routledge, 2003.

16 - Ross, N., ‘Robben Island, 500 Years of South African History’,unpublished manuscript, c1999, p. 146.

17 - Much of this section is drawn from Marinda Weideman’smasters thesis, ‘Robben Island: Coastal Defence 1931-1960’,University of the Witwatersrand, 1998.

18 - Weideman, M., ‘Coastal Defence’, 1998, p. 68.



21 - Buntman, F, Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance toApartheid, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 19.

22 - Dlamini, M., Hell-Hole, Robben Island, Trenton: Africa WorldPress, 1984, pp. 29-41; Babenia, N., Memoirs of a Saboteur:Reflections on my Political Activity in India and South Africa ,Cape Town: Mayibuye Books, 1995, pp. 126-7.

23 - Conditions are described in all the prison writings by politicalprisoners – sources include Mandela, N., Long Walk to Freedom,London: Abacus, 1995, pp. 455-6; Kathrada, A., Memoirs, CapeTown: Zebra, 2005, pp. 197-8, 237 and 301; Dingake, M., MyFight against Apartheid, London: Kliptown Books, 1987, pp. 204ffand Dlamini, M., Hell-Hole: Robben Island, Trenton: Africa WorldPress, 1984, pp. 25 and 121.

24 - Buntman, F., Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance, pp.39-40.

25 - Kathrada, A., Memoirs, pp. 269-70; Buntman, F., RobbenIsland and Prisoner Resistance, pp. 38-39.

26 - Buntman, F., Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance, pp.146ff.

27 - Deacon, H., ‘Medical Institutions’, 1996, p. 70.

28 - Buntman, F., ‘Resistance on Robben Island’, in H. Deacon(ed), ‘The Island, A History of Robben Island 1488-1990’, CapeTown: Mayibuye Books and David Philip, 1996, p. 135.

29 - Mandela, N., Long Walk to Freedom, 1995, pp. 465, 497.

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