![]() ![]() The Dutch settlers were the first to use Robben Island as a prison. Since the end of the 17th century, Robben Island has been used for the incarceration of chiefly political prisoners. The settlers also collected seal skins and boiled oil to supply the needs of the settlement. The isolation offered better protection against wild animals than on the mainland. In 1654, the settlers of the Dutch Cape Colony placed all of their ewes and a few rams on Robben Island, and the men built a large shed and a shelter. Its current name means "seal island", in Dutch. Located at the entrance to Table Bay, 11 km from Cape Town, this island, was discovered by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 and, for many years, it was used by Portuguese navigators, later by English and Dutch as a refueling station. Robben Island is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two other former inmates of Robben Island, in addition to Mandela, have been elected to the presidency since the late-1990s: Kgalema Motlanthe (2008–2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009–2018). In addition, the majority of prisoners were detained here for political reasons. He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa, becoming the country's first black president and serving one term from 1994 to 1999. Political activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on the island for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment before the fall of apartheid and introduction of full, multi-racial democracy. It was fortified and used as a prison from the late-seventeenth century until 1996, after the end of apartheid. It is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event. ![]() Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 kilometres (2 miles) long north–south, and 1.9 km ( 1 + 1⁄ 8 mi) wide, with an area of 5.08 km 2 ( 1 + 31⁄ 32 sq mi). It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals ( robben), hence the Dutch/Afrikaans name Robbeneiland, which translates to Seal(s) Island. Robben Island ( Afrikaans: Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |