South Africa - Prisoner 466/64

One of the most infamous reminders of apartheid in South Africa is Robben Island, 12 kilometers off the coast of Cape Town. At various points in time it has been a leper colony and mental health asylum (1846-1931), defense and training station in WWII, and more recently, from the 1960's, a place where political (anti-apartheid) prisoners were interned for periods of 5 to 25 years for crimes of protesting the injustice of the apartheid policies of the white majority government.   

Since 1997, Robben Island has become a museum that showcases both the cruelties suffered by its inmates as well as the triumphs they achieved in their struggle to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality-in short, to be treated as human beings.  It is an unforgettable and moving tour. We saw the cell where Nelson Mandela lived and the buildings where hundreds of prisoners were expected to sleep where there was barely room to move or get up.  I learned that there were quite a few prisoners of Indian descent who had played an important role in the apartheid struggle such as Sathyandranath Ragunanan Maharaj (better known as  Mac Maharaj- who spent 12 years on the Island and became democratic South Africa's first Minister of Transport from1994- 1999) and Indres Naidoo, who later wrote an account of his 10 years in prison called, "Island in Chains".

Through actual letters and photographs kept on display at the museum, we saw how the political prisoners were confronted with a loss of personal control, ongoing disorientation and isolation, arbitrary punishments, discriminatory regulations and often cruel prison authorities. For example, the lights in each cell were never turned off, but burned all day and all night. Even in prison, there was a caste system of sorts: 'Coloured', 'Indian' and African prisoners received different diets, and prisoners were further classified into A, B, C, or D categories, which carried a decreasing number of privileges. Visits by family and friends were severely restricted, as were the numbers of letters sent and received. On the other hand, the prisoners with help of outside pressure struggled for  better conditions and privileges, such as permission to study. Although the prisoners came from all different political affiliations and visions , they united to turn the maximum security prison into a university of the anti-apartheid struggle.

The tour was actually conducted by a former political prisoner (he fomented student demonstrations back in the 70's) and hearing him talk about the physical and psychological methods of torture he went through at the hands of the prison guards brought tears to my eyes.  He spoke quite candidly about the various forms of torture used to get him to confess.  But he seemingly spoke without rancor or hatred.  He stressed his ability to move on with his life was because he was able to forgive those guards and other whites that followed the policies of apartheid.  He said that he even became friends with his former prison guards! 

Nelson Mandela

As prisoner 466/64, Mandela was probably the most famous prisoner on Robben Island. On the island, we visited Mandela's cell and also saw the flower garden where he hid the manuscript which eventually became his autobiography entitled "Long Walk to Freedom." (I definitely recommend this for anyone interested in learning about the apartheid struggle and what Nelson Mandela's life has been). On the bus tour of the island, we saw the limestone quarry where Mandela and other prisoners spent most of their days, breaking rocks for no apparent purpose and going nearly blind in the glare of the sun. He described the prison's caste system' thus:

"Apartheid's regulations extended even to clothing. All of us, except Kathy, received short trousers, an insubstantial jersey, and a canvas jacket. Kathy, the one Indian among us, was given long trousers. Normally Africans would receive sandals made from car tires, but in this instance we were given shoes. Kathy, alone, received socks. Short trousers for Africans were meant to remind us that we were "boys." I put on the short trousers that day, but I vowed that I would not put up with them for long.

He was given a chance to be released early by President Botha in 1985 if he would publicly renounce violence as a political instrument and if he would admit that he and the anti-apartheid leaders were wrong. South Africa was suffering under the weight of sanctions from the international community and riots within the country. Mandela refused to do so, and as a result it wasn't until President De Klerk lifted the ban on the African National Congress in 1990 that Mandela was finally released. In 1994, when South Africa held its first democratic elections, and black South Africans had their first chance to vote, he was elected president.

Believe it or not, in Johannesburg, we got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela himself!  Mandela now presides over the Nelson Mandela Foundation which supports multiple programs such as education and HIV/AIDS awareness in South Africa.  Even though he no longer holds any official position in the South African government, Mandela is revered as the elder statesman of the country.  His policy of reconciliation is reflected throughout the country in the way many people in the country talk enthusiastically about the future of the country, based on how bloodshed was avoided during the transition from apartheid to the current system.

The Indian government was donating money to the Foundation and, as the representative of the Indian government in South Africa, Dev's father presented the check to Nelson Mandela or Madiba (Mandela's Xhosa clan name meaning chief or hero), as he is respectfully called in South Africa.  We tagged along, in awe and dumbstruck!  Here we are, at the Foundation with Madiba.  He was very friendly and cordial and spoke about the inspiration he drew from Indian independence leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu.  Madiba is 86 years old and walks with the aid of a cane but was still very spry and charismatic.

Another interesting connection to India was this photo of a Nicobarese Jarawa woman that he had found in National Geographic and hung in his jail-cell (photos on the left) . He had joked in his autobiography that his then-wife was jealous of the picture!  All those years, he had thought that this was a woman from Africa, when in fact the woman is from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands in India (in the Bay of Bengal).   More on this at this article and this article.  The sad part is that these islanders may have been wiped out by the tsunami of December 2004...

- Smruti

Comments

[Kiru Naidoo]

Wonderful. Thank you for looking it up so promptly. Madiba describes the picture as "a celebration of life". In November last year, a stalwart of the South African liberation movement, Mac Maharaj had the picture redone and presented to his long standing comrade. Maharaj recalled Madiba's fondness for the image on Robben Island, one that lifted his spirits. The Indian government's restrictions on foreign nationals travelling in the Anadaman Islands made my search for Madiba's "Thando" (=love in Xhosa) rather difficult but there is enough credible information in my travel notebooks to write a piece - more likely for the Johannesburg Sunday Times.
Were your travels to carry you to the east coast of Africa, please allow a native of these parts to look after you in Durban.
Kiru

[Dev]

Kiru, thanks for the catch. We have corrected the photo and put up the right one now, I think.

[Kiru Naidoo]

Very interesting travel log. My interest was piqued by your reference to the woman from the Andaman Islands whose picture President Mandela kept on the wall of his cell. The picture that you have published is not the one that so intrigued him.You may want to refer to the July 1975 issue of National Geographic. I have just returned from the Andaman Islands and am keen on pursuing the Mandela interest in an essay.
Kiru Naidoo
Durban, South Africa