Robben Island prison tours 'honour a legacy of forgiveness'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/06/nelson-mandela-robben-island-prison

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In Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela described his Robben Island cell as "tiny – I could walk from one side to the other in three steps". Since the island reopened as a museum in 1997, thousands of tourists have taken the 20-minute ferry ride from Cape Town. Guided by former prisoners, they can peer through the bars of Mandela's 2-metre by 3-metre (7ft by 10ft) cell, with its stark grey gloss walls, folded brown blanket, green stool, red bucket, cup and aluminium plate.

One of the guides, Sparks Mlilwana – who was 16 when he was jailed for seven years in 1983 – believes the tours should serve to perpetuate Mandela's legacy. "We show tourists the harsh conditions of the island, but not with rancour," said Mlilwana, a former member of Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). "This is not a museum to hatred. Visiting Robben Island should provide a lesson in reconciliation."

After Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia trial, he spent 18 years on Robben Island as Prisoner 466/64 – the 466th prisoner registered in 1964. In 1982 he was transferred to Pollsmoor prison near Cape Town, and later to the low-security Victor Verster prison near Paarl in the Western Cape, from where he was released in 1990.

Mandela was held on Robben Island when conditions were harsh, before prisoners campaigned for improvements. "Assaults by warders, racism, inedible food, random punishment and solitary confinement were the order of the day," said Mlilwana. "The opposition politician Helen Suzman led calls for improvements to conditions, so that finally the Red Cross could come and inspect. By 1976, when a new crop of prisoners arrived after the student uprisings, things had improved."

In the courtyard adjacent to Mandela's old cell, Mlilwana points out a black-and-white photograph. It shows Mandela with the ANC youth league founder Walter Sisulu. "They are wearing jackets," he said. That is because the photograph was taken the day the Red Cross came to visit. In reality, black prisoners were only allowed short trousers and shirts, whereas Indian and coloured [mixed race] prisoners wore long pants."

Robben Island has faced repeated management crises. A 2008 audit revealed years of pilfering – from the gift shop till, fuel siphoned from the ferry – and huge rises in managers' salaries. In 2009, the feral rabbit population soared, leading to fears that their burrows would undermine historic buildings. A cull prompted an outcry from animal rights activists. The management responded by promising to donate the rabbit meat to Cape Town's poor.

Mlilwana said his job as a guide was far more rewarding and better paid than anything he could have hoped for after the struggle, had he not been imprisoned. But he is concerned about the attitude of the South African youth. "The foreign tourists who come here understand Mandela's message of forgiveness. But young South Africans who come here on school trips take us to task, and speak of the need for revenge against whites."

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