Robben Island Prison is an inactive prison on

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the fl ...

, 6.9 kilometers (4.3 mi) west of the coast of

Bloubergstrand Bloubergstrand is a seaside suburb of the City of Cape Town, South Africa, along the shores of Table Bay, due north of the city centre of Cape Town. The name Bloubergstrand literally means "blue mountain beach" in Afrikaans, and is derived ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Nobel Laureate and former

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Since then, three former inmates of the prison (Mandela,

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who served as the 3rd president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president und ...

, and

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

) have gone on to become President of South Africa. It is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

Beginning in 1961, the prison was used by the

South African government The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...

for political prisoners and convicted criminals. The maximum security prison for political prisoners closed in 1991 and the medium security prison for criminal prisoners was closed five years later in 1996.Chronology
, Robben Island Museum website, retrieved 8 June 2013

List of former prisoners

Neville Alexander Neville Edward Alexander OLS (22 October 1936 – 27 August 2012) was a proponent of a multilingual South Africa and a former revolutionary who spent ten years on Robben Island as a fellow prisoner of Nelson Mandela. Early life Alexander was ...

, proponent of a multilingual South Africa and former revolutionary *

Autshumato Autshumato (or Autshumao; ''Herry'' or ''Harry de Strandloper'') was a chief of the Khoikhoi Gorinhaikonas (or Goringhaicona) who worked as an interpreter for the Europeans in present-day, Cape Town, South Africa prior and during the establis ...

(probably around 1625 – 1665), one of the first activists against colonialism, and a Robben Island prisoner from 1658 to around 1660. * Imam Abdallah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam (also known as Tuan Guru), imprisoned from 1780 until 1793 for his anti-colonial activities against the Dutch. *

Dennis Brutus Dennis Vincent Brutus (28 November 1924 – 26 December 2009) was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have South Africa banned from the Olympic Games due to its racial policy of apartheid. ...

, former activist and poet *

Patrick Chamusso Patrick Chamusso (born in 1949 in Mozambique) is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) party of South Africa who participated in the militant actions of the organization during the apartheid era. Biography One of three sons, Patrick ...

, former activist of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

* Laloo Chiba, former accused at

Little Rivonia Trial The Little Rivonia Trial was a South African apartheid-era court case in which several members of the armed resistance organization Umkhonto we Sizwe faced charges of sabotage. The accused were: Laloo Chiba, Dave Kitson, Mac Maharaj, John Matth ...

* Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian-origin and member of the ANC's armed wing

Umkhonto We Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

. *

Eddie Daniels Eddie Daniels (born October 19, 1941) is an American musician and composer. Although he is best known as a jazz clarinetist, he has also played saxophone and flute as well as classical music on clarinet. Early life, family and education Daniel ...

, anti-apartheid activist *

Jerry Ekandjo Jerry Lukiiko Ekandjo (born 17 March 1947) is a Namibian politician, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He is one of the founding members of the SWAPO Youth League and has been one of the most active internal leading member ...

, Namibian politician * Nceba Faku, former Metro Mayor of Port Elizabeth *

Joe Gqabi Joe Nzingo Gqabi (6 April 192931 July 1981) was a South African African National Congress activist who was the ANC's chief representative in Zimbabwe at the time of his assassination by the South African Defence Force in Harare (then Salisbury), ...

, former ANC activist *

Harry Gwala Themba Harry Gwala (30 July 1920 – 20 June 1995) was an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) in South Africa. Biography Early career and activism Harry Gwala ...

, former ANC activist *

Nkwenkwe Nkomo Nkwenkwe Nkomo of South Africa is the group deputy chairman of Draftfcb, FCB SA, South Africa's largest marketing communication group, and chairperson of the Advertising Standards Authority (South Africa), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ...

, South African politician activist * Petrus Iilonga, Namibian trade unionist, activist and politician *

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African Natio ...

, former

Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location f ...

ist and long-serving prisoner * Koesaaij, Malagasy co-leader of the ''Meermin'' slave mutiny in February, 1766 *

Langalibalele Langalibalele ( isiHlubi: meaning 'The blazing sun', also known as Mthethwa, Mdingi (c 1814 – 1889), was king of the amaHlubi, a Bantu tribe in what is the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was born on the edge of the ...

, The King of the

Hlubi people The Hlubi people or AmaHlubi are an AmaMbo ethnic group native to Southern Africa, with the majority of population found in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa South Africa, officially the ...

, one of the first activists against colonialism * John Kenneth Malatji, former activist and special forces of ANC – Tladi, Soweto *

Njongonkulu Ndungane Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane (born 2 April 1941) is a retired South African Anglican bishop and a former prisoner on Robben Island. He was the Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman and Archbishop of Cape Town. Early life Ndungane was born i ...

, later to become Archbishop of Cape Town *

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress (ANC) who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the Peo ...

, imprisoned in 1974, President and Leader of the Congress of the People *

Mac Maharaj Sathyandranath Ragunanan "Mac" Maharaj OLS (born 22 April 1935 in Newcastle, Natal) is a retired South African-Indian politician, businessman, and former anti-apartheid activist. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was the ...

, former accused at Little Rivonia Trial *

Makana Makana is a mountain located on northern shore of the island of Kauai, where it rises above Limahuli Valley. ''Makana'' is a Hawaiian language term meaning gift or reward. It is often used as a person's name or as part of a name. Limahuli Gard ...

, one of the activists against colonialism * Vusumzi Make, former PAC activist * Clarence Makwetu, former PAC Activist *

, African National Congress leader and former president of South Africa (first black president) * Gamzo Mandierd, activist * Jeff Masemola, the first prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment in the apartheid era *

Amos Masondo Nkosiyakhe Amos Masondo (born 21 April 1953 in Louwsburg) is a South African politician, who served as the Chairperson of South Africa's National Council of Provinces between 2019 and 2024. He was the mayor of the city of Johannesburg, South Af ...

, former mayor of Johannesburg * Massavana, Malagasy leader of the ''Meermin'' slave mutiny in February, 1766 * Michael Matsobane, leader of Young African Religious Movement. Sentenced at Bethal in 1979; released by PW Botha in 1987. * Chief

Maqoma Jongumsobomvu Maqoma (c. 1798 – 9 September 1873) was a Xhosa chief and a commander of the Xhosa forces during the Cape Frontier Wars. Born in the Right Hand House of the Xhosa Kingdom, he was the older brother of Chief Sandile kaNgqika and ...

, former chief who died on the island in 1873 *

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the younger son of Ch ...

, father of former president of South Africa

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

. Govan was sentenced to life in 1963 but was released from Robben Island in 1987 by PW Botha *

Wilton Mkwayi Wilton Zimasile Mkwayi OMSG (17 December 1923 – 24 July 2004) was an African National Congress veteran and one of the first six members of Umkonto weSizwe to be sent for military training. Early life Wilton “Bri-Bri” Zimasile Mkwayi was ...

, former accused at Little Rivonia Trial *

Andrew Mlangeni Andrew Mokete Mlangeni (6 June 192521 July 2020), also known as Percy Mokoena, Mokete Mokoena, and Rev. Mokete Mokoena, was a South African political activist and anti-apartheid campaigner who, along with Nelson Mandela and others, was imprison ...

, former Rivonia Trialist * Johnson Mlambo, former PAC activist *

Murphy Morobe Murphy Morobe (born 2 October 1956) is a historical figure from South Africa's anti-apartheid movement. He started school in Ermelo. Morobe completed Primary School in Soweto and then went to Orlando North Secondary School and Morris Isaac ...

Soweto Uprising The Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976. Students from various schools began to p ...

student leader *

Dikgang Moseneke Dikgang Ernest Moseneke OLG (born 20 December 1947) is a South African jurist and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. Biography Moseneke was born in Pretoria and went to school there. He joined the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) at ...

Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa The Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa is a judge in the Constitutional Court of South Africa and the second-highest judicial post in the Republic of South Africa, after the Chief Justice. The post, originally called "Deputy President of the Con ...

Zephania Mothopeng Zephania Lekoame Mothopeng (10 September 1913 – 23 October 1990) was a South African political activist and member of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC). Early life Mothopeng was born near Vrede in Free State, and he had five siblings. He was ...

, former PAC activist *

Elias Motsoaledi Elias Mathope Motsoaledi OMSG (26 July 1924 – 9 May 1994) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. He was Accused No.9 in the Rivonia Trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1963 with a group of anti-Apartheid revolution ...

, former Rivonia Trialist * Sayed Abdurahman Moturu, the Prince of Madura, one of Cape Town's first imams, who was exiled to the island in 1740 and died there in 1754 * Griffiths Mxenge, a South African Lawyer and member of the African National Congress * Billy Nair, former Rivonia Trialist and ANC/SACP leader * M. D. Naidoo, a South African lawyer and member of the African National Congress *

John ya Otto Nankudhu John ya Otto Nankudhu (1933–2011, Pseudonym#Nom de guerre, nom de guerre: ''Koshiwanda'', the surname is sometimes also spelled Nankugu) was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People' ...

, Namibian liberation fighter * John Nkosi, Serving life but released by PW Botha in 1987 * Jan Shoba, leader in the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks ...

* Samuel Sisulu Founder of South African Freedom Organisation *

Nongqawuse Nongqawuse (; c. 1841 – 1898) was a Xhosa prophet. Her prophecies resulted in a millenarian belief that culminated in the Xhosa cattle-killing and famine of 1856–1857, in what is now Eastern Cape, South Africa. Early life Nongqawuse was ...

, the Xhosa prophetess responsible for the Cattle Killing * Maqana Nxele, former Xhosa prophet who drowned while trying to escape * John Nyathi Pokela, co-founder and former chairman of the PAC * Joe Seremane, former chairperson of the Democratic Alliance. *

Tokyo Sexwale Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale (; born 5 March 1953) is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. For many years, Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, ...

, businessman and aspirant leader of the African National Congress *

Gaus Shikomba Gaus Shikomba (27 January 1935 - 3 November 2007) was a South West Africa Liberation Army (Swala) intelligence officer who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1966 to 1984. Military career and imprisonment Shikomba was born in 1935 at Onashiku s ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician *

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

, former ANC Activist *

Raymond Mhlaba Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba OMSG (12 February 1920 – 20 February 2005) was an anti-apartheid activist, Communist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) who became the first premier of the Eastern Cape. Mhlaba spent 25 years of his ...

, former ANC Activist and first former

Premier of the Eastern Cape The premier of the Eastern Cape is the head of government of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The current premier of the Eastern Cape is Oscar Mabuyane, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected in the 2019 South Afric ...

. *

Stone Sizani Phumelele Stone Sizani (born 2 March 1954) is a South African politician who was, until his resignation on 2 March 2016, a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa and the African National Congress Chief Whip. It has been reported that upo ...

, ANC Chief Whip *

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, ...

, former leader of the

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

Seth Mazibuko Seth Mazibuko was born in Orlando, Soweto on 15 June 1960 and was the youngest member of the South African Students' Organisation that planned and led the Soweto uprising. He was arrested in July 1976 at age sixteen. Mazibuko was held in solitary ...

, youngest member of the

South African Students' Organisation The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney Pi ...

that planned and led the

Soweto uprising The Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976. Students from various schools began to p ...

Steve Tshwete Steve Vukhile Tshwete (12 November 1938 – 26 April 2002) was a South African politician and activist with the African National Congress. Involved in Umkhonto we Sizwe, Tshwete was imprisoned by the apartheid authorities on Robben Island from ...

, former ANC Activist * Moses Twebe, former ANC Activist * Andimba Toivo ya Toivo,

n politician * Sakaria Nashandi,

n politician *

, former president of South Africa and leader of the African National Congress * Achmad Cassiem, former leader of the

Pan-Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, often shortened to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is a South African pan-Africanist national liberation movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert So ...

(PAC) and leader of the Qibla movement * Setsiba Paul Mohohlo, former APLA unit commander * Micheal Ludumo Buka, former ANC Activist *

, Former deputy president of the African National Congress and South Africa's third president since the dawn of democracy * John Aifheli Thabo, an ANC political activist * Ezra Mvuyisi Sigwela, an ANC political activist * Xolani Casper Jonas, an ANC political activist * Kwezi Nontsikelo, ANC political activist, Advisor to the Minister of Defence * King Sigcau kaMqikela,

Mpondo The Mpondo People, or simply Ama-Mpondo, is a kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape.Mpondo people
Encycl ...

royal king, grandson of King

Faku kaNgqungqushe Faku Ka-Ngqungqushe, son of King Ngqungqushe kaNyawuza was the last ruling monarch of the United AmaMpondo KingdomStapleton, Timothy J. ''Faku. Rulership and Colonialism in the AmaMpondo Kingdom.'' Wilfrid Laurier Uni Press. 2001. in Southern Af ...

and one of the first activists against colonialism * Kisten Moonsamy, former Rivonia Trialist *

Dimitri Tsafendas Dimitri Tsafendas (; 14 January 1918 – 7 October 1999) was a Greek- Mozambican political militant and the assassin of Prime Minister of South Africa Hendrik Verwoerd. Beresford, David (11 October 1999)Obituary: Long-jailed assassin of South A ...

, Greek-Mozambican lifelong political militant and the assassin of

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed ...

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

* Stephen Dlamini, ANC activist *

Peter Mokaba Peter Mokaba, OLS (7 January 1959 – 9 June 2002) was a member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela and president of the South African governing party's youth wing, the ANC Youth League. Th ...

, former ANC Activist * Vejaynand Ramlakan, former ANC Activist * George Naicker, prominent anti-apartheid activist * Zakaria Modobi Maholobela, a.k.a. Zakaria Modipi Maholobela, an ANC political activist * Jeremy Vearey, ANC activist File:Nelson Mandela's cell-Robben Island.jpg, Nelson Mandela's prison cell File:Japhta Masemola (1963-89) (5998332162).jpg, Japhta Masemola's prison cell File:Paul Langa (1977 - 91) (5997933222).jpg, Paul Langa's prison cell File:Thami Mkhwanazi (1980 - 83) (5998332864).jpg, Thami Mkhwanazi's prison cell File:Zahkele Mdlalose (1964 - 74; 77 - 90) (5998331940).jpg, Zahkele Mdlalose's prison cell

Gallery

File:Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (01).jpg, Prison File:Robben island (3153393075).jpg, Former prison cells and corridor File:B-Section, Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (01).jpg, Backyard File:Dormitory, Robben Island Maximum Security Prison (01).jpg, Dormitory File:Wash basins, Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (02).jpg, Wash basins File:Wash basins, Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (01).jpg, Wash basins File:Communal toilets, Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (01).jpg, Communal toilets

References

External links

Robben Island Museum

Robben Island – UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Robben Island Museum at Google Cultural Institute
{{Nelson Mandela Defunct prisons in South Africa Museums about apartheid History museums in South Africa Museums in Cape Town Residential buildings in Cape Town

History

List of former prisoners

Gallery

See also

References

External links