Robben Island would remain a political prison for the next three hundred years.  Any African leader who resisted the colonial government invariably found himself detained on Robben Island.

This is particularly true of the Xhosa chiefs and prophets who fought against colonial expansion in the 19th century.  For nearly one hundred years, the Xhosa resisted colonial expansion, only to see their leadership murdered or imprisoned on Robben Island.  By the 1870s, Xhosa lands were dispossessed, its people forced into labor on colonial farms, and its leadership enfeebled or confined.

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Robben Island from Table Mountain The Island was not always just a prison.  A small community of staff members and their families erected the first church in 1841 and by 1892 the Island had its first primary school.

These innocent developments, however, mask the true nature of the Island.  In 1844, able-bodied and non-threatening (politically or otherwise) prisoners were sent to work on the mainland.  In their place arrived lepers, the mentally ill and incorrigible criminals.  Combined with the political prisoners, the Island came to house society's castaways--banished because they no longer fit in.  

Conditions would deteriorate progressively until World War II.  When the Island was fortified with gun and artillery banks.  It's location made it ideal for the defense of Cape Town, but the guns would never be fired in anger.

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Prisoners were given modern bunks (rather than floor mats) in the mid 1970s after considerable protest

Robben Island would gain modern notoriety after South Africa's National Party came to power.  Running on a campaign of racial separation known as "Apartheid" they convinced the general public that the African population was a threat that needed to be controlled.  The National Party passed a series of oppressive laws outlining where Africans could live, when they could travel, whom they could marry, and where they could work.

Those who violated the laws were beaten, murdered and incarcerated.  Those perceived as resistance leadership were sent to the Island.

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The Robert Sobukwe House

One such leader was Robert Sobukwe, leader of the Pan African Congress (PAC) and the radical militant group Poqo.  He was originally arrested in 1961, and served two years before he was due to be released.  Eager to keep him detained, the South African government passed the General Laws Amendment, which contained a clause granting the government the right to detain political prisoners indefinitely, without charge, after their release date.  Robert Sobukwe was the only person held under this new law.

He would serve on Robben Island for the next 8 years in total isolation--both guards and other prisoners alike were forbidden to look, talk, write, or gesture to him.  Wracked by mental illness and cancer, he would die in house arrest after being released in 1969.

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Robben's most notorious prisoners were housed in 

The membership of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League were growing impatient.  They thought the ANC's old-guard leadership had stood by passively as oppressive new Apartheid laws were enacted.  After 68 unarmed protesters were killed by police in the mining town of Sharpesville, the ANC Youth League decided to take action.

In 1961, led by Nelson Mandela, the ANC Youth League formed the militant organization Umkhonto we Sizwe, or "Spear of the Nation".  Dedicated to armed resistance to the South African government, Umkhonto we Sizwe, attempted to sabotage government facilities without taking human life.  2 years later, the leaders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, along with the "Rivonia 11", were convicted for conspiring against the government.  Nelson Mandela would spend 27 years in prison--much of it on Robben Island--becoming one of the world's most famous political prisoners and a focal point in the worldwide struggle against the Apartheid system.

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Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island

What made Mandela and the Rivonia 11 so dangerous? Rivonia was a small farming community outside of Johannesburg that hosted a meeting of African political and intellectual leaders, including Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada and Andrew Mlangeni.  They produced a document--later recovered by police--outlining a guerilla campaign against the government and the institutions of Apartheid.  This marked the point at which the struggle against Apartheid formally abandoned the non-violent protest of the past in favor of armed resistance.  

The South African government saw before it a potential civil war against nearly 80% of the population and acted swiftly.  Throughout the 1960s, dozens of political prisoners associated with the struggle were sent to Robben Island.  Before long, the prison became overpopulated, and atrocious conditions only got worse.

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The cellblock housing the Rivonia 11

Robben Island was staffed by the most ardent anti-African guards in the nation, people unaffected at the inhuman treatment of the Island detainees.  Some actually reveled in the beatings, torture and hard labor administered against the prisoners.  Furthermore, the government believed they would be immune to the arguments of consciousness raised by intelligent, articulate African political/social leaders. 

Living conditions were appalling.    As with the general society, inmates were separated by race, with Africans receiving the least benefits.  Cells designed to house 20 prisoners held 60, all of whom slept on mats on the damp concrete floor.  The prison uniform consisted of short pants and canvas jackets, little protection against the elements.  Although they were forced into hard labor, inmates were offered little sustenance.  In fact, African prisoners were not granted a bread "privilege" until 1971.

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The way out

Despite these deprivations, the inmates maintained their sense of humanity.  They gradually petitioned for improved living conditions, book privileges, and sports leagues.  Inmates even taught each other and completed correspondence courses to earn high school and college degrees.

Through their grace and dignity, the inmates even earned the respect of some of the guards, who passed information and overlooked minor infractions for certain prisoners.

Still, Robben Island continued to heap cruelties on its denizens, remaining a symbol of the oppressive Apartheid system.

By the mid-1980s, international pressure and social unrest prompted the government to begin secret negotiations with Nelson Mandela and the ANC leadership.  Each was open to compromise, but neither wished to lose face with their rank-and-file supporters.

After years of tense negotiations, Mandela (detained in mainland prisons since 1984) was released from captivity in February 1990.  In 1994, he became the nation's first African president.  His theme of forgive, but never forget, set the tone for reconciliation--something the country would need to heal the wounds of Apartheid.  Today, South Africa struggles with a legacy of violence while it looks toward the future.