Nelson Mandela statue unveiled at prison where he completed sentence

A statue of Nelson Mandela was today unveiled at his last prison. Anita Sethi follows in the former South African president's footsteps to freedom
statue of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel look at a small version of the big statue that was unveiled at Drakenstein Prison near Franschhoek, South Africa. Photograph: Schalk van Zuydam/AP

Drakenstein prison

I am sitting at the table at which South Africa's post-apartheid constitution was drafted, in the peach-coloured prison cottage at Drakenstein. It is what Mandela called his "gilded cage", a halfway house between imprisonment and freedom. Around the table, key negotiators would sit – the then president FW de Klerk, minister Gerrit Viljoen, ANC members and Mandela's family.

The cottage is now closed to the public, but the prison authorities have plans to open it as a museum after acquiring ownership of the house from the Department of Arts and Culture.

The Simonsberg mountains stretch far into the distance beneath a clear blue sky. "The mountain was an inspiration. He gained his strength here, orientating himself and getting a grip," says Manfred Jacobs, who works in the prison services. Mandela was so fond of this cottage that he ordered an exact replica of it to be built at his home in the Eastern Cape.

Mandela marked his 71st birthday in this cottage, his last in captivity before his final walk to freedom on February 11 1990.

Although his movement was monitored, Mandela asserted control where possible, says Jacobs: "He said to the wardens: 'Tell me to move from A to B, but I will determine the pace'. That's exactly what he did. He stood his ground and it was not easy. He determined the pace of his release; the pace of negotiations. Some wanted to take up arms but Mandela said this is not the way to go".

An "animal of habit", Mandela refused to sleep in the large master bedroom but in a bed in his study. He read newspapers beneath the fir trees, watched four ducks paddling on the swimming pool, exercised in his gym, ate meals cooked by a personal chef. "The officials saw him as terrorist and enemy but, when they talked to him , they realised that what they had been taught was not true", says Jacobs.

"We offer this trip down memory lane at the prison house, but it is ultimately a lesson to move on. We want to move forward as a nation, we have to. We cannot do it alone. We need supporters. There is a reason why we have the delete button, bleach, washing powder. Leaders make many mistakes but we believe that we can make so much change in the nation."

The most inhospitable outpost of apartheid

The sun strains over choppy seas as I head towards what former ANC leader Oliver Tambo called "the most inhospitable outpost of apartheid": Robben Island.

Once, it held captive those deemed to be insane, leprosy sufferers and anti-apartheid protestors. Watches were banned and time passed so slowly that political ideas were debated at length. Mesh wire fence sprawls around the buildings and I am guided by a former prisoner, Mr Siswana who shouts his story above the caw-cawing of seagulls.

Siswana spent five years here on a charge of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts related to the uprisings of 1976.

The prison system aimed to wear down mind and body; with hard labour in limestone quarries and psychologically disorientating strategies such as mixing political prisoners with hardened convicts.

Regimented prison life involved waking at half past four, eating meagre food, building gravel walls.

"We were not supposed to think," Siswana says. "We didn't adapt well to prison life. It got so out of control. Most of us were teenage high school students. When they are in one place together, anything can happen".

There were many altercations with the wardens as the inmates tried to improve conditions. Attempts to escape from the island were fruitless. "Those who tried to escape were thoroughly assaulted," Siswana says.

It was essential to build a sense of community, achieved through sport. "We talked to the wardens about rugby. But we would degenerate into politics and they didn't like it. We insisted that it was them that brought politics into sport."

Walking down narrow, dim corridors, I finally arrive at Mandela's cell. Through the thick white bars, there are blankets, a bucket, windows welded so they could not be opened, an attempt to prevent any communication at all.

Robben Island is a stunning landscape, with seagulls and wagtails flying before a rich sunset. Indeed, Mandela writes in Long Walk to Freedom: "When I perceived the beauty of even this small, closed-in corner of the world, I knew that some day my people and I would be free."


Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations stretch across generations as well as geography. In the township of Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town, birthday cake is being savoured by those far too young to remember apartheid. At the Nokhanyo Saga Charitable Trust school, four-year-old children sing Happy Birthday to their national hero and 16-year-old Zikhona reads a poem she has written to her country.

Nearby, a man named Golden sells roses, daisies and lilies. Golden moved to the township with his wife Phumla and five daughters, but had no home and no work. In this area of mass unemployment, Golden makes flowers from other people's waste, crafting discarded drinks cans.

In a nearby shack, a teenage mother clutches her sons and tells me: "We have no money, no food. We want change. I dream of going to school and being a social worker."

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund is investigating the possibilities of youth parliaments in response to the prevalence of child-headed households. "We are experiencing a situation where the adult population is dying off, so children are on their own," a spokesperson from the charity tells me. To get support, the organisation is "trying to change the mindset of corporate companies".

In the corner of the room, stands a grinning statue of Mandela, draped in Santa Claus costume. "We are asking: what theory of change are you using?" says the spokesperson. "How do we change societies, empower communities?" – a crucial question for future generations.

• Anita Sethi travelled to South Africa with Saga Holidays.

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