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| Image Source: travel.nationalgeographic.com |
Between the 17th and 20th century, Robben Island holds a repute of unrivaled infamy. It was a hellhole—a maximum security prison for political prisoners, a wastebasket where people not accepted by society are thrown into, and a field where the military trains and rules overpoweringly.
What remains in the islands are vestiges of its troubled past: quarries from the 17th century, Hadije Kramat’s tomb, ruins of what used to be a leper colony, a 19th century village complete with administrative buildings and a parsonage, WWII military structures, and a small lighthouse. These are all but reminders of South Africa’s Apartheid regime, a racial segregation system which was enforced by National Party (NP) governments. The regime’s philosophies, which touched almost all aspects of life in South Africa, curtailed the rights of all black inhabitants and upheld the white supremacy mentality. In this state, native Africans became a minority in their own homeland, and Robben Island all stood witness to these atrocities.
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| Image Source: -cs-students.stanford.edu |
In a fortunate twist of fate, all of these came to an end in the 1990s when the regime has been finally overturned by South Africa’s citizenry. All of the political prisoners were released, and after many years of being incarcerated in the land of their birth, they finally got to experience the sweetness of freedom.
For all that it was and has become, Robben Island is a fitting testament to the human spirit—a witness to the power of democracy and its triumph over racism and oppression.
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Africa, despite having a tumultuous history, also holds its fair share of hopeful stories. Get to discover them by visiting this Palace Travel Facebook page.
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