On this day in 1977, Mandela was hostile
In 1977, the late Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners were photographed against their will.
THE Nelson Mandela Foundation this morning reminded the world that on this day, in 1977 the South African prison authorities allowed a number of journalists to visit the notorious Robben Island.
In a release on its website the foundation said that the government of the day’s intention was to persuade the outside world that the conditions there were not as bad as widely believed.
“On their tour of the island the journalists encountered a tall, thin man dressed neatly in prison clothes and leaning on a spade. The expression on his face was one of intense hostility, and his bearing was more that of prince than prisoner. The man was Nelson Mandela, in his 13th year of incarceration on Robben Island,” they said.
The photo was captioned ‘A Prisoner Working in the Garden’ by the prison authorities. Today it hangs as the centrepiece of the Mandela Prison Archive.
