Coordinates: 33°48′01″S 18°22′16″E / 33.80028°S 18.37111°E / -33.80028; 18.37111

Robben Island (prison)

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Maximum Security Prison
File:Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island (02).jpg
Prison building
File:South Africa Western Cape location map.svg
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LocationRobben Island, Cape Town
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StatusInactive
Security classMaximum-minimum
Opened1961
Closed1996
Managed bySouth African government
CityCape Town
Postal code7400
CountrySouth Africa
Websiterobben-island.org.za
Notable prisoners
Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma

Robben Island Prison is an inactive prison on Robben Island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometers (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Since then, three former inmates of the prison (Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe,[1] and Jacob Zuma) have gone on to become President of South Africa.

It is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2][3]

History

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Beginning in 1961, the prison was used by the South African government for political prisoners and convicted criminals. The maximum security prison for political prisoners closed in 1991 and the medium security prison for criminal prisoners was closed five years later in 1996.[4]

Robben Island Prison had, by the time of Nelson Mandela's imprisonment, long been viewed as "a symbol of oppression" by many black South Africans.[5][6]

List of former prisoners

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See also

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References

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  4. ^ Chronology Archived 15 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Robben Island Museum website, retrieved 8 June 2013
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