Mandela Prison Site to Become Museum

Robben Island, where President Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars, will become a museum. “Robben Island will be a powerful reminder to future generations not to repeat the tragedies of the past,” said Correctional Services Minister Sipho Mzimela, signing over the island to the Department of Arts and Culture at a ceremony attended by about 150 dignitaries. In the sandstone prison, only Mandela’s old cell was furnished; the other cells were unchanged from when he arrived. Mandela lived there from June 1964 until April 1982. The last prisoners left earlier this month, ending the island’s 400-year history as a site for lepers, prisoners and the mentally ill.