- For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from
Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and
imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded
as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted
of society.
- During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally
known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those
who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents
of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters
spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their
beliefs.
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- Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological
and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into
a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island
came to symbolise, not only for South Africa and the African
continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of
the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.
- Robbe
Eiland the Dutch name meaning seal island, in the early
times of discovery, thousands of seals were found living
on Robben Island. Penguins, Tortoises, Birds and sea mammals
were also an abundant community found here.It was generally
a safe breeding ground, Whales enjoying the location in
early spring, lobsters and shell fish found all along the
shoreline
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