Nelson Mandela's incarceration at Robben Island

Summary

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Witness History: Nelson Mandela’s Incarceration at Robben Island

Podcast: Witness History
Host: Jen Dale (BBC Newsroom)
Date: June 8, 2026
Episode Length: 9 minutes

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Witness History, Jen Dale guides listeners through Nelson Mandela’s years of incarceration on Robben Island, drawing on rich BBC archival audio. With first-hand accounts from Mandela and historical context provided throughout, the episode explores the decisions, hardships, resilience, and hope that defined his imprisonment under apartheid South Africa.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Path to Imprisonment

• Apartheid South Africa (00:30):
  South Africa in the 1960s was tightly controlled by apartheid laws that enforced racial segregation. The African National Congress (ANC), with Mandela as a leader, initially pursued peaceful protest.
• Shift to Armed Resistance (01:12):
  Citing oppression and worsening conditions, Mandela explains their decision to adopt violence after non-violence was met with brutality.

  "To resort to violence was a very agonizing decision. …the government took advantage of our commitment to non violence and decided to even be more vicious."
  — Nelson Mandela [01:12]

• Sharpeville Massacre & State of Emergency (01:39):
  Mass protests in Sharpeville led to 69 deaths, precipitating a crackdown on the ANC, Mandela’s underground activism, and the creation of the ANC’s armed wing.
• Arrest and Rivonia Trial (02:13 – 02:38):
  Mandela’s arrest and the subsequent Rivonia Trial culminated in life imprisonment.

  "It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. …it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
  — Nelson Mandela, Rivonia trial speech [02:38]

2. Arrival and Life on Robben Island

• First Impressions of Robben Island (03:23 – 04:17):
  Mandela describes arriving at the notorious prison:

  "They woke us up at midnight…told us that we’d been flown to a place where we would have perfect freedom within, behind prison walls. And that turned out to be Robben Island."
  — Nelson Mandela [04:17]

• Prison Conditions (04:56 – 05:02):
  Mandela’s cell was tiny, cold, and furnished with only a mat and a bucket toilet.

  "Robben island could be very cold and we were very scantily dressed without underwear, and that cold would go right into our marrows."
  — Nelson Mandela [05:02]

• Hard Labor (05:18 – 05:52):
  Prisoners performed physically arduous work, first pulverizing stones, then digging lime in harsh conditions.

  "Lime is a very difficult thing…to get to the lime, you have to break the top layer and then you scoop the lime out."
  — Nelson Mandela [05:36]

3. Strategies for Survival and Connection

• Navigating Prison Restrictions (06:03 – 06:37):
  Prisoners were banned from singing and whistling, but Mandela shares his pragmatic approach to improving daily life.

  "We learned to befriend a warder in charge of the section…if you’re friendly with him…he just goes to the storeroom and gives [extra blankets] to you."
  — Nelson Mandela [06:03]

• Maintaining Family Ties (06:44):
  Strict, infrequent visits and limited letter-writing opportunities defined relationships with loved ones.

  "My wife saw me every six months for 30 minutes…At first I could communicate with her every six months, write one letter to her and receive a letter from her."
  — Nelson Mandela [06:44]

• Smuggling News In and Out (07:18 – 07:57):
  Mandela tells how prisoners gleaned information from discarded newspapers and smuggled out letters to inform the movement.

  "It is the duty of political prisoners…to work out ways of keeping in contact with their constituency. For example, I was able to smuggle out a number of letters for publication…"
  — Nelson Mandela [07:34]

4. Sustaining Hope and Reflecting on Legacy

• Never-Ending Hope (08:05):
  Despite isolation, political prisoners drew strength from growing global support.

  "When you are a political prisoner and there is growing support for the ideas for which you are now suffering…hope becomes very strong."
  — Nelson Mandela [08:05]

• Personal Growth in Prison (08:42):
  Mandela viewed his long incarceration as a time for self-reflection and future preparation.

  "The ability to be able to see yourself in action in the past and…the excitement of preparing for the future. I found this is very rewarding."
  — Nelson Mandela [08:42]

• Release and Presidency (08:29–09:08):
  Mandela was freed on February 11, 1990, and in 1994 became South Africa’s first black president.

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Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• "It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But…an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
  — Nelson Mandela, Rivonia trial speech [02:38]

• "They woke us up at midnight and told us that we’d been flown to a place where we would have perfect freedom within, behind prison walls."
  — Nelson Mandela [04:17]

• "Robben island could be very cold…we were very scantily dressed without underwear, and that cold would go right into our marrows."
  — Nelson Mandela [05:02]

• "It is the duty of political prisoners…to work out ways of keeping in contact with their constituency."
  — Nelson Mandela [07:34]

• "The certainty of final victory was always there."
  — Nelson Mandela [08:05]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30 – 01:12: Introduction to apartheid South Africa and ANC’s principles
• 01:12 – 01:58: Mandela on resorting to violence & the Sharpeville Massacre
• 02:13 – 02:38: Mandela’s arrest, the Rivonia trial, historic courtroom speech
• 03:23 – 04:17: Arrival and first impressions of Robben Island
• 04:56 – 05:52: Harsh prison conditions and forced labor
• 06:03 – 06:37: Surviving prison bureaucracy, relationships with warders
• 06:44 – 07:11: Contact with family under severe restrictions
• 07:18 – 07:57: Smuggling news and information
• 08:05 – 08:42: Sustaining hope, support from the outside world
• 08:42 – 09:08: Mandela’s personal growth during imprisonment
• 09:08 – 09:25: Mandela’s release and presidency

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Tone and Style

The episode is reflective and quietly powerful, letting Mandela’s voice carry the experience: dignified, pragmatic, and filled with hard-earned hope. Jen Dale’s narration provides historical context and segues seamlessly between archive clips and Mandela’s recollections.

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Conclusion

This succinct, impactful episode brings Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island years vividly to life—the hardship, small acts of resistance, his emotional endurance, and the deep faith in eventual justice. Through archival audio and Mandela’s own words, listeners are given both the broad sweep of history and the intimate texture of political imprisonment under apartheid.

Transcript

[Jen Dale]

Hi, I'm Jen Dale and this is Witness History from the BBC World Service. If you're a regular listener, feel free to skip ahead a little, but if you're listening for the very first time, welcome. We're the podcast that takes you back to a moment in history by speaking to those who were there and using Amazing Archive. If that sounds like something you'd listen to, hit subscribe. Wherever you get your BBC podcasts and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode. I'm using the BBC archives to take you back to the 1960s, when Nelson Mandela, who would later become South Africa's first black president, was jailed for life and sent to Robben Island. In 1960, South Africa was under the apartheid regime which legalized racial segregation and discrimination. Nelson Mandela was part of the African National Congress, the anc, which argued that all races should have equal rights and the vote. After years of peaceful protest, the movement decided they had to be more militant. As he told a 1990 BBC documentary,

[Nelson Mandela]

to resort to violence was a very agonizing decision. We had done everything in our power to try all options open to us. Not only was there no improvement as far as our living conditions are concerned, but the government took advantage of our commitment to non violence and decided to even be more vicious.

[Jen Dale]

Things came to a head in March in the township of Sharpeville when 69 protesters were killed by police. Fearing retaliation, the government declared a state of emergency and banned the anc. The ANC formed a military wing known as Spear of the Nation with Mandela at the helm.

[Nelson Mandela]

I had very young children, a young wife, but the instruction came from the leadership that I must go underground and organize now. Resistance against the government, the armed struggle, in particular Mandela.

[Jen Dale]

Tagged by the press, the black Pimpernel travels in and out of the country constantly on the move in disguise. During that time, bombs were planted to sabotage government infrastructure and cause economic damage. In 1962, Mandela was arrested. At the Rivonia trial of 1963, Mandela and nine others are charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow the state.

[Nelson Mandela]

I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. Accused number one is found guilty on all four counts. Accused number two is found guilty on all sentence. In the case of all, the accused will be one of life imprisonment.

[Jen Dale]

On 13 June 1964, on a cool winter's day, Nelson Mandela was taken to Robben island In the Atlantic, 7 km from the south African mainland, where seabirds flew over a tall red and white lighthouse. The island was also home to a maximum security prison.

[Nelson Mandela]

It's been a leper colony, a military base, but most famously the place where Nelson Mandela was banished for 18 of the 27 years he spent in jail.

[Jen Dale]

The sign over the entrance to the prison read, welcome, we serve with pride. There were several long, rectangular one story stone buildings and tall watchtowers at each corner of the perimeter, walls topped with spirals of barbed wire. He spoke about his arrival with acclaimed American playwright Arthur Miller In a 1991 BBC documentary, Miller meets Mandela.

[Nelson Mandela]

Can you recall the day when you first stepped onto Robben island with a life sentence in front of you? I remember that day very well. They woke us up at midnight and told us that we'd been flown to a place where we would have perfect freedom within, behind prison walls. And that turned out to be Robben Island. They took us there in an army trooper, army plane. We were in separate cells. Each one has its own cell and a very small cell. You could hardly do any exercise there. It was so small.

[Jen Dale]

He had a bucket for a toilet, a mat for a bed and a small barred window.

[Nelson Mandela]

It was a very terrible time because Robben island could be very cold and we were very scantily dressed without underwear, and that cold would go right into our morrows.

[Jen Dale]

They were made to do hard labor.

[Nelson Mandela]

I worked firstly inside the prison in a courtyard. What they did was to bring stones which we had to crush into fine powder and which was a very heavy type of work indeed. Later, then they took us to the quarry to dig lime. Lime is a very difficult thing, you know, to dig because it is between layers of rock, hard rock. To get to the lime, you have to break the top layer and then you scoop the lime out.

[Jen Dale]

Hard labor outside and hard living conditions inside. With strict rules, prisoners couldn't sing, they couldn't whistle. But Mandela found ways to make things a little more bearable.

[Nelson Mandela]

We learned to befriend a warder in charge of the section because in many cases he is more important than the Commissioner of prisons. Because if you went to the commissioner of prisons and he said, it is very cold, I want four blankets, he will look at the regulations and say, no. The regulations say that in winter you must have three blankets, not four. But if you went to the warder in charge of your section and you say, I want four blankets, he just goes to the storeroom and gives it to you if you're friendly with him.

[Jen Dale]

But a friendly warden was no substitute for seeing the friendly face of a loved one. On Robben island, that was a rarity.

[Nelson Mandela]

My wife saw me every six months or 30 minutes. Was there a glass between you? Yes, there was a partition. At first. I could communicate with her every six months, write one letter to her and receive a letter from her. That was the only letter that was allowed. Then later the period was reduced to three months and later to a month.

[Jen Dale]

Despite the lack of contact with the outside world, Mandela and his co inmates found innovative ways of getting news.

[Nelson Mandela]

Sometimes we'd be lucky to work not very far from a rubbish dump. And of course, it can be gold. You can find newspapers. And then on such days, we used to accumulate a lot of information and

[Jen Dale]

they managed to send out information too.

[Nelson Mandela]

It is the duty of political prisoners, when they come to a place to prison, to work out ways of keeping in contact with their constituency. For example, I was able to smuggle out a number of letters for publication and it was only when they had been printed that they became aware of what was happening.

[Jen Dale]

After 18 years at Robben Island, Mandela was moved to prison on the mainland. But his hope for freedom didn't diminish.

[Nelson Mandela]

When you are a political prisoner and there is growing support for the ideas for which you are now suffering, you are immediately put on a level where hope becomes very strong. Now that feeling remained with us throughout the 27 years. The certainty of final victory was always there.

[Jen Dale]

The final victory came on February 11, 1990, when Nelson Mandela walked free from prison after serving more than a quarter of a century behind bars. But he looked back on his time in prison without bitterness.

[Nelson Mandela]

I would like to think in terms of the advantages which I gained from serving a long jail sentence. The ability to be able to see yourself in action in the past and the mistakes and witnesses which you committed and the excitement of preparing for the future. I found this is very rewarding.

[Jen Dale]

In 1994, he became South Africa's president, the first black leader in free elections. Nelson Mandela died in 2013, aged 95. Witness history was produced and presented by me, Jen Dale. And if you found this interesting, you may want to check out other episodes such as Nelson Mandela's autobiography and the Funeral of Nelson Mandela. We like to know what you think, so please leave us a review. Tell your friends about what you've heard and don't forget to hit. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Thanks very much for listening. Sporting Witness takes you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there.

[Nelson Mandela]

We weren't going to ask permission.

[Jen Dale]

We were just going to do it.

[Nelson Mandela]

It was such an amazing feeling. It was incredible. He started to write a story about how we came up with the idea for the red and yellow cars. I got to go. We cried a bit. We laughed a bit. It was wonderful. There's a magic during those moments that carries your soul. We were truly blessed to be a part of history.

[Jen Dale]

Sporting Witness. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts.