A Journey to Robben Island - Most Notorious Jail turns into a University of the struggle

Robben island, a World Heritage Site some 12 km offshore from Cape Town, Over the centuries, the island has housed a notorious prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of the 27 years of his incarceration imprisoned on the island.

The Island became an informal 'university' where the prisoners who were to become the next generation of political leaders in South Africa spent many hours in debate and discussion. 

A ‘university of the struggle’, its graduates went on to lead South Africa into democracy.

The tour for Robben Island starts at the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront. Ticket price R 300.Each tour takes approximately 4 hours including the boat trip there and back. On the island, tours are all guided by ex political prisoners of the island (Our guide was Mr. Mcongo who was convicted and imprisoned during 1978-1990 at Roben Island).He has described the most notorious prison life.He will allow you to ask any questions about Roben Island.He will show Mr. Mandela’s former cell (uff it's really very small and he stayed there for such a long time), prepared exactly as it was when he was imprisoned.

As one of the world's great cultural heritage destinations, the buildings of Robben Island bear eloquent testimony to its somber history, and at the same time symbolize the triumph of the human spirit, of freedom, and of democracy over oppression."

Former Robben Island prisoner Ahmed Kathrada remarked around the time of Mandela's release from prison: "While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid, we will not want Robben Island to be a monument to our hardship and suffering. We would want Robben Island to be a monument … reflecting the triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil. A triumph of non-racialism over bigotry and intolerance. A triumph of a new South Africa over the old."

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