Day 12: Robben Island

The quarry where Mandela and other prisoners worked for five days each week. The cave on the left was made by the prisoners as a place to shelter and later study, and they called it Robben University.



The cell where Nelson Mandela lived for 18 years.

Football highlight today was New Zealand holding Italy to a draw, winning their second point. A few more kiwis will finally understand why real football can be exciting and tense despite what they perceive as a lack of goals. In fact, the difficulty of scoring goals and their relative scarcity are two of the game's great virtues, not problems. It builds tension, and makes every goal a truly wonderful event. New Zealanders will dine out on a couple of goals now forever.

This day was dominated by a visit by boat to Robben Island, about 11 kilometres out of Cape Town harbour. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned here for 18 of his 27 years as a political prisoner under apartheid. Two of the photographs show Mandela's cell, although he had a small library on bookshelves in his day. The cell was about three metres square.

The island was used to hold political prisoners from 1961 until 1991, and it is a cold and windswept place in winter, so conditions must have been bleak.

We were shown around the island by Glen, a former prison mate of Mandela. He told us they were forced to work in the quarry for five days a week, then on Saturdays they were allowed to rest and play sport outside, but on Sundays they were not allowed out of their cells. They lived for Saturday, and it was dominated by soccer. Glen said he was the main organiser, and he proudly told me that they strictly conformed with FIFA rules, even using shin pads and referees. Prisoners were organised into 24 teams, and the Red Cross provided shirts for the teams. They played in a formal league, and had cup competitions. He kept statistics on goalscorers, league tables, etc, and it gave him a purpose in life.

I asked him whether Mandela played soccer. "No, he played one game of rugby, but then only tennis." I think this calls for Mandela's greatness to be reconsidered.

The top photograph above is on the wall of the cell where Glen spent 6 years. "The soccer preserved our sanity," he said.

Which is ironic, because with both Australia and England failing to win yet, it's having the opposite effect on me.