09.17.11 Robben Island & Lion's Head

Today was definitely one of my favorite days since arriving in South Africa. We took a ferry in the morning to Robben Island, where we received a tour from a man who was imprisoned on the island under Apartheid for 10 years. His sentence resulted from planting a bomb in a government building as a member of Inkatha (the ANC’s militant branch). As he gave us the tour I was quieted anew (as I have been numerous times here) by the freshness of the history here. It is not an old and distant history but a history that permeates the present only 17 years after the end of Apartheid.

Our tour guide took us into the maximum security prison where political prisoners – usually the heads of resistance organizations – were sentenced during Apartheid. The stories of the prisoners are quite amazing and horrifying at the same time. They formed their own underground government and spent a great deal of time teaching one another and exchanging ideas. One of the mottos amongst the prisoners was: “Each one teach one.” Even some of the guards became affected by the ideology and dignity of the prisoners, and as a result, all of the prison personnel was changed every two years. On the horrific side, the prisoners were tortured – psychologically and physically. Our tour guide shared that at one point he was told that his father was coming to visit on Saturday morning. When he came to the office on Saturday morning they told him that his father could not visit him – his father had been shot 8 times. Our tour guide was returned to his cell, shaking, trying to hide his frustration. Later his lawyer confirmed that his father was in intensive care, having been shot eight times. I couldn’t exactly understand where his father was shot (before coming to Robben Island or on the island), but our tour guide stated: “his only crime was wanting to visit his son in jail.” The men who shot his father were the same men who tortured him on Robben Island – breaking his ribs, permanently damaging his left ear . . . During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in the mid 1990’s, all of the men responsible for crippling his father (to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life) were given amnesty, and today they are wealthy businessmen.

To this day our tour guide has difficulty sleeping more than 3 hours a night, and other effects of his time there are a part of his daily life. He shared that he has reconciled with some of the guards and even has had one over to his house for dinner. It was a lot to take in . . . I think I’m still processing our time with him.

In the afternoon we hiked up Lion’s Head as a big group. The exercise (actual vertical climbing in a few parts) and being in nature were SO refreshing, but the best was the 360 degree view of Cape Town from the top! I cannot begin to explain how beautiful it is. [See picture for a small taste!]