Twentieth Century History Makers: Nelson Mandela by A. Kramer

Author:A. Kramer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781445142241
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Published: 2014-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

In prison

Once in prison, Mandela was stripped and ordered to put on prison uniform – short trousers, rough khaki shirt, canvas jacket, socks, sandals and cloth cap. Racism existed in prison as elsewhere. Only blacks were made to wear short trousers because Africans were treated as ‘boys’ by the authorities. Their food was also the worst in prison.

Mandela refused to wear the shorts or eat the food and was put into solitary confinement. He had no watch, nothing to read and no one to talk to. It was profoundly dehumanising, and he said at times he found himself “initiating conversations with a cockroach”.

After some weeks Mandela demanded to be put with the other political prisoners. Ultimately he was moved out of solitary. In May 1963 he was suddenly moved to Robben Island, the maximum security prison built on a rocky outcrop about 28 km (18 miles) off the coast of Cape Town. After some time he was moved back to Pretoria. The authorities said this was for his own safety because he had been threatened by PAC political prisoners. This was completely untrue.

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