1st Day in Cape Town

Cape Town and Robben Island

Our first day in Cape Town was packed with amazing sights. Cape Town is known as the “Mother City” in South Africa because it was where the Cape Colony was first established by the Dutch in the 1650s.

The first stop of the day was Robben Island. Pieter had told us earlier that a tour of Robben Island is very dependent on the weather because of the ferry that you need to take out of Cape Bay to get there. We were all so happy to wake up to a sunny day, which allowed us to take the voyage to the island.

Our first tour guide, once we reached the island, was extremely well versed in the island’s history, and clearly very passionate about his job. We rode a bus around the island so we could see all the different landmarks as he informed us about the island’s history.

The name of island came from the Dutch calling it seal island because there were so many seals that originally live there.  Nowadays the seal population is no longer on the island. 

He explained that banishment had been the primary purpose of the island for 400 years.  It was initially set up as a leper colony from 1846-1941. The misconception during that time was that leprosy was very contagious, and that is why there was a need for total isolation from the people suffering from it.  In addition to the people suffering from leprosy, the tour guide informed us that the island was also a place that the extremely poor and the mentally ill of the Cape Colony were sent. Once these people reached the island they were separated into males and females and were transported to separate sides of the island with soldiers in between them.

He explained that the island has only had two escapes in its history, one of which was a success.  The reason why it was chosen as a place for banishment is that the current and the water temperature throughout the year make it pretty much impossible to escape.

During World War Two, Robben Island became a prison like Alcatraz. Political prisoners and violent convicts were both sent there.

Our tour guide informed us that the apartheid government initially put these two groups together with the hopes that they would not assimilate well together, but what actually happened was they were able to come together through their common isolation and struggle. Ironically, the apartheid system created a table where the different leaders could come together and talk about reconciliation (ending apartheid).

The political prisoners decided to try out their ideas about reconciliation on the guards first to see if it could possibly work. Most of these guards were recent graduates of the apartheid education system and therefore were a good test to see if their plan would work.

Our tour guide spoke of a process called, “each one, teach one” that the political prisoners developed to get everyone involved in the process of understanding how the apartheid government could change, and to keep everyone mentally clear and strong inside the prison.

The political prisoners initial goals were to change their situation slowly, but surely. One example is how they were able to convince the guards to change the cave, in the limestone quarry, that was used for toilets into a classroom.

Another example he mentioned was that the Red Cross and Amnesty International were made aware of the conditions on Robben Island, and they were able to help the inmates to get newspapers and books, which were exceptionally helpful so that the prisoners could remain mentally clear and aware.

The leaders of the movement were kept in solitary spaces during their sentences at Robben Island, but many of them joined the rest of the political prisoners during manual labor and that is when they would strategize their next moves.

Today on the island there are about 125 workers and their families that live there throughout the year.  Their children are transported to Cape Town, free of charge, to go to primary and secondary schools. 

The guide also told us that on one day per year, February 14 the International Day of Love, up to 18 couples can get married on Robben Island at the Garrison Church there.  He told us that they are already booking weddings years in advance!

After the bus tour, we met up with our second tour guide who was a former political prisoner at Robben Island.  He was imprisoned there from 1984-1990.  It was incredible to have a first hand account of what life was like as a prisoner during the Apartheid government.

He went into detail of the ways in which the political prisoners would use any time they could away from the guards to strategize, and learn about the current circumstances in South Africa.  He said that the conditions were very difficult to live under, but that the prisoners stayed strong by thinking about changing the course of the country’s future. 

He mentioned many of the leaders inside the prison, the most well known being Nelson Mandela.  We walked by his cell, a place I had been waiting to see for a very long time.  Knowing that he spent 18 years in such a cramped space, and was able to come out of there forgiving the ones that put him in there is one of the most admirable things I have every heard.

Our tour guide showed us a list of the many people who died at Robben Island and have not had their bodies claimed by their families.  He said since they published the list two families have come back to the island to collect the remains of their relatives.

Our first tour guide encouraged us to move forward and spread tolerance. He said that the South African schools have struggled to teach the history of apartheid, and he thinks the best way is teach tolerance first.  This is a concept I want to take back to my classroom; so that my students can understand how much more powerful tolerance is that divisiveness.

He also reminded us that,“evil can only flourish if good people do nothing”. Our Robben Island trip had a powerful impact on my trip to South Africa.