77-548: 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 , and Jacob Zuma ) have gone on to become President of South Africa. It
154-451: A quartermaster and 20 sailors overland. Carpenters were needed since neither of Meermin 's boats, now onshore, could be used: one was buried in the sand, and the other was in need of repair. The party from Cape Town had arrived by 6 March, and, while Johannes Le Sueur was overseeing the carpenters' examination of Meermin ' s boats, he was handed a bottle containing a message signed by Jan de Leeuw. A second bottle, containing
231-487: A "huge step in the recognition of oppressed people [such as slaves] as free-thinking individuals". The VOC's normal punishment for a slave who attacked an owner or overseer was "death by impalement ", but none of the Malagasy were tried. For lack of sufficient evidence it was decided that the remaining mutiny leaders Massavana and Koesaaij should be "put on [Robben Island] until further instructions". The purpose of this
308-471: A branch of Iziko Museums , was renamed the Old Slave Lodge, commemorating its accommodation of about 9,000 government-owned slaves between the 17th and early 19th centuries. In 2004 Iziko Museums started a maritime archaeology project, associated with the Old Slave Lodge museum, to find and salvage the wreck of Meermin ; supporting historical and archaeological research was also commissioned, funded by
385-417: A canoe, but a unit of the militia immediately surrounded the party when they landed. One Malagasy was shot dead and three others taken prisoner; the dead Malagasy was later identified by one of the ship's crew as the mutiny's overall ringleader, but his name was not recorded. Of the remaining two, one swam away and the other was believed either to have swum back to the ship or drowned in the attempt. Enraged by
462-609: A day and take about 3.5 hours, consisting of a ferry trip to and from the island, and a tour of the various historical sites on the island that form part of the Robben Island Museum. These include the island graveyard, the disused lime quarry, Robert Sobukwe's house, the Bluestone quarry, the army and navy bunkers, and the maximum security prison. Nelson Mandela's cell is shown. Seagoing vessels must take great care navigating near Robben Island and nearby Whale Rock (it does not break
539-511: A fire to warm the Malagasy after their immersion in the water, and fed them; three wagons took them to Cape Town on 12 March. Of the 140 or so Malagasy who had been taken on the ship originally, 112 reached the Cape Colony. The VOC authorities salvaged as much as possible from the beached Meermin . They recovered nearly 300 firearms, gunpowder and musket balls, compasses and five bayonets ; they auctioned cables, ropes and other items from
616-461: A little more than six kilometres (4 mi) north-west of Struisbaai, and "installed himself" in the home of farmer Barend Geldenhuijs. Le Sueur then went to Wesselsen's property, where he interrogated 18 Malagasy men in an attempt to assess the situation on board Meermin . On 3 March, he went from there to Matthijs Rostok's farm and began corresponding with the VOC's Cape Colony government, based in what
693-535: A message signed by Olof Leij, was also found and handed to Le Sueur, and the fires were lit on 7 March. One of the messages is preserved in the Cape Archives Repository. Although we trust in the Lord to save us we kindly request the finder of this letter to light three fires on the beach and stand guard at these behind the dunes, should the ship run aground, so that the slaves may not become aware that this
770-407: A sergeant, to assist in retaking Meermin , but the ships did not arrive until the action was over. About 90 Malagasy remained on the ship throughout the following week, waiting for the promised signal fires and growing increasingly impatient. Some of the mutineers decided to build a raft to carry them to the shore in an effort to establish exactly where they were. In a stroke of luck for the crew,
847-525: A small explosion just outside it, using gunpowder , in which Gulik was injured again. Their hope was to frighten the Malagasy into submission, and a Malagasy woman who had been taken hostage was instructed to tell the other Malagasy that, if they did not surrender, the crew would blow up the ship. The Malagasy correctly pointed out that doing so would kill the crew as well, and again demanded that they be returned to Madagascar. Leij agreed, but Captain Muller ordered
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#1732873368756924-450: Is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . 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. Its current name means "seal island", in Dutch. In 1654, the settlers of
1001-502: Is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . 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. Robben Island Robben Island ( Afrikaans : Robbeneiland )
1078-421: Is a Christian country. They will certainly kill us if they establish that we made them believe that this is their country. Olof Leij The Malagasy on the ship, seeing the signal fires, cut the anchor cable, allowing Meermin to drift shorewards, where she grounded on a sandbank. Crew member Rijk Meyer, who had earlier been thrown overboard and swum around the ship to the safety of the gunroom, now swam from
1155-602: Is an island in Table Bay , 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand , north of Cape Town , South Africa. 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 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 ( 1 + 31 ⁄ 32 sq mi). It
1232-406: Is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event. It was fortified and used as a prison from the late-seventeenth century until 1996, after the end of apartheid . 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. He
1309-407: Is now the city of Cape Town . A crew member who had come ashore with the Malagasy and subsequently escaped was taken to Le Sueur, who sent him to report in person to the authorities at Cape Town. Meanwhile, local farmers and burghers were recapturing Malagasy in small groups. The authorities at Cape Town sent two hoekers , Neptunus and Snelheid , with a party of soldiers under two corporals and
1386-399: Is reported to have laughed when issuing his order, saying he was sure that others would doubt his wisdom; having set the task, he went below deck for a meal. When the Malagasy had cleaned the weapons and were ordered to return them, they attacked the ship's crew, killing all who were left on deck, including Krause, who had returned when the attack began. Also killed in this fight were two of
1463-449: Is unknown, but the names of the others were recorded as Massavana and Koesaaij . Massavana , a man of 26, had been enslaved by "the king of Toulier", now Toliara , through an elaborate deception. Although Krause had presented the Malagasy with an opportunity to mutiny by allowing them on deck and handing them familiar weapons, the mutiny had been premeditated and organised by the Malagasy, who intended to kill all Europeans on board
1540-508: 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. The isolation offered better protection against wild animals than on the mainland. The settlers also collected seal skins and boiled oil to supply the needs of the settlement. Since the end of the 17th century, Robben Island has been used for the incarceration of chiefly political prisoners . The Dutch settlers were
1617-650: The Dutch East India Company 's fleet of slave ships , took place in February 1766 and lasted for three weeks. Her final voyage was cut short by the mutiny of the Malagasy captives onboard, who had been sold to Dutch East India Company officials on Madagascar to be enslaved by the company in its Cape Colony in southern Africa. During the mutiny half the ship's crew and almost 30 Malagasy captives died. Meermin set sail from Madagascar on 20 January 1766, heading to
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#17328733687561694-583: The Hemel-en-Aarde (heaven and earth) leper colony near Caledon were moved to Robben Island when Hemel-en-Aarde was found unsuitable as a leper colony. Initially, this was done on a voluntary basis, and the lepers were free to leave the island if they so wished. In April 1891, the cornerstones for 11 new buildings to house lepers were laid. After passage of the Leprosy Repression Act in May 1892, admission
1771-539: The end of apartheid , the island has become a popular tourist destination. It is managed by Robben Island Museum (RIM); which operates the site as a living museum. In 1999, the island was declared a World Heritage Site for its importance to South Africa's political history and development of a democratic society. Every year, thousands of visitors take the ferry from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town for tours of
1848-478: The "kings of Ternate and Tidore , and the princes of the respective families". The Dutch had long held them on "Isle Robin", but then had moved them to Saldanha Bay. In 1806, the Scottish whaler John Murray opened a whaling station at a sheltered bay on the north-eastern shore of the island, which became known as Murray's Bay. It was adjacent to the site of the present-day harbour named Murray's Bay Harbour , which
1925-411: The 1650s, ordered that huge bonfires were to be lit at night on top of Fire Hill, the highest point on the island (now Minto Hill). These were to warn VOC ships that they were approaching the island. In 1865, Robben Island lighthouse was completed on Minto Hill. The cylindrical masonry tower, which has an attached lightkeeper's house at its base, is 18 metres (59 ft) high with a lantern gallery at
2002-454: The Cape Colony. Two days into the trip, Johann Godfried Krause, the ship's chief merchant , persuaded the captain, Gerrit Cristoffel Muller, to release the Malagasy slaves from their shackles and thus avoid attrition by death and disease in their overcrowded living conditions. The Malagasy were put to working the ship and entertaining the crew. In mid-February, Krause ordered the Malagasy to clean some Madagascan weapons, which they used to seize
2079-681: The South African National Lottery. Jaco Boshoff of Iziko Museums, who is in charge of the research, retrieved Meermin ' s plans from the Netherlands to help identify this wreck among the numerous ships reputed to have run aground in the Struisbaai area. In 2011 the Iziko Museums' travelling exhibition "Finding Meermin" included updates on the progress of Jaco Boshoff's work with the archaeological research team, but, as of 2013,
2156-422: The area in 1652, the only large animals on the island were seals and birds, principally penguins. In 1654, the settlers released rabbits on the island to provide a ready source of meat for passing ships. The original colony of African penguins on the island was completely exterminated by 1800. But, since 1983, a new colony has been established there, and the modern island is again an important breeding area for
2233-457: The attack, as both were wounded; command was instead transferred to boatswain Laurens Pieters; twelve crewmen armed themselves and exited the gunroom shooting as they went. Pieters and another man were surprised and killed as they stepped on deck; the rest retreated back to the gunroom, where another crewman, who had been severely wounded, later died. On the third day, the survivors set off
2310-804: The cause of the sinkings. Maritime wrecks around Robben Island and its surrounding waters include the 17th-century Dutch East Indiaman ships, the Yeanger van Horne (1611), the Shaapejacht (1660), and the Dageraad (1694). Later 19th-century wrecks include several British brigs , including the Gondolier (1836), and the United States clipper , A.H. Stevens (1866). In 1901 the mail steamer SS Tantallon Castle struck rocks off Robben Island in dense fog shortly after leaving Cape Town. After distress cannons were fired from
2387-475: The company, while Muller and Gulik were also stripped of their rank and wages. The enslaved Malagasy were not tried, but the two surviving leaders of the mutiny, named in Dutch East India Company records as Massavana and Koesaaij , were sent to Robben Island for observation, where Massavana died three years later; Koesaaij survived there for another 20 years. In 2004, a search was begun for
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2464-401: The costs of the case and were sent home to Amsterdam, having to work their passage; Muller was banned from the Cape Colony and was banned for life from working for the VOC. Olof Leij was also dismissed from the VOC. The burghers of Struisbaai were considered to have played an "exemplary role" in assisting Le Sueur's efforts to terminate the mutiny. Other rulings made in this case represented
2541-421: The crew to sail the ship towards Cape Agulhas , the southernmost point of Africa. Muller's assessment was that the Malagasy had little skill in seafaring and navigation and therefore would be unlikely to notice the deception, which proved to be the case. After three or four days' sailing they sighted land, the VOC settlement of Struisbaai . The leader of the mutineers was by now suspicious. The orientation of
2618-399: The crew who had climbed into the rigging threatened the Malagasy from the fore-mast with hand grenades , "only those that reached the safety of the barricaded [gunroom] ... escaped a brutal death." With Krause dead and Muller wounded, Olof Leij was left in charge of the remaining crew below deck. The mutiny began under the de facto leadership of three men: the primary leader's name
2695-400: The crew's deception, the Malagasy still on Meermin launched an attack on the crew which lasted for three hours, but the crew were able to defend themselves. On 9 March the ship's carpenters from Cape Town completed repairs to one of Meermin ' s two boats, described as a schuit . The Malagasy saw how close they were to defeat; the ship was grounded and a force of Dutchmen on shore
2772-411: The deck from time to time, under careful supervision. But the chief concern was that they might jump overboard to escape, rather than that they might mutiny, despite a mutiny by the slaves occurring on the VOC ship Drie Heuvelen in 1753. That mutiny was quickly suppressed, but clearly it could happen again, making Captain Muller's agreement to the kind of release that occurred on Meermin "appear all
2849-435: The end of the century, but only if climate change followed RCP 8.5 , which is the scenario of high and continually increasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the warming of over 4 °C., and is no longer considered very likely. The other, more plausible scenarios result in lower warming levels and consequently lower sea level rise: yet, sea levels would continue to increase for about 10,000 years under all of
2926-406: The farmers had understood that as the ship was flying no flags, it was in distress. Meermin 's crew, now led by Krause's assistant Olof Leij, managed to communicate with the militia on shore by means of messages in bottles , and persuaded them to light the signal fires for which the Malagasy still on board were waiting. On seeing the fires, the Malagasy cut the ship's anchor cable and allowed
3003-463: The first to use Robben Island as a prison. The island's first prisoner was probably Autshumato in the mid-17th century. Among its early permanent inhabitants were political leaders imprisoned from other Dutch colonies , including the Dutch East Indies , and the two surviving Malagasy leaders, named in Dutch East India Company records as Massavana and Koesaaij, of the mutiny of Malagasy slaves on
3080-413: The food supply (sardines and anchovies) through competition by fisheries. Easy to see in their natural habitat, the penguins have been a popular tourist attraction. Around 1958, Lieutenant Peter Klerck, a South African Navy officer serving on the island, introduced various animals. The following extract of an article, written by his son Michael Klerck, who lived on the island from an early age, describes
3157-468: The island and its former prison. Many of the guides are former prisoners. All land on the island is owned by the nation of South Africa, with the exception of the island church. Administratively, Robben Island is a suburb of the City of Cape Town . It is open all year around, weather permitting. Robben Island is accessible to visitors through tours that depart from Cape Town's waterfront. Tours depart three times
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3234-633: The island was fortified. BL 9.2-inch guns and 6-inch guns were installed as part of the defences for Cape Town . From 1961, Robben Island was used by the South African government as a prison for political prisoners and convicted criminals. In 1969, the Moturu Kramat, now a sacred site for Muslim pilgrimage on Robben Island, was built to commemorate Sayed Abdurahman Moturu , the Prince of Madura . Moturu, one of Cape Town's first imams , had been exiled in
3311-421: The island, nearby vessels rushed to the rescue. All 120 passengers and crew were taken off the ship before it was broken apart in the relentless swell. A further 17 ships have been wrecked in the 20th century, including British , Spanish , Norwegian and Taiwanese vessels. Due to the maritime danger of Robben Island and its near waters, Jan van Riebeeck , the first Dutch colonial administrator in Cape Town in
3388-477: The local fauna: In the early 21st century, the rabbit population had reached an estimated 25,000, which had become an invasive species , endangering others. Humans are hunting and culling the rabbits to reduce their number. In 2022, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report included Robben Island in the list of African cultural sites which would be threatened by flooding and coastal erosion by
3465-417: The men made to assist the crew and the women made to provide entertainment by dancing and singing. Massavana and some others were set to controlling and taking care of the sails, which has been described as "unheard of, and certainly against all [VOC] regulations". Allowing slaves into secure areas on deck was common practice on most European vessels, and VOC regulations did permit them to be released onto
3542-475: The mid-1740s to the island. He died there in 1754. Muslim political prisoners would pay homage at the shrine before leaving the island. In 1982, former inmate Indres Naidoo 's book "Island in Chains" became the first published account of prison life on the island. The maximum security prison for political prisoners closed in 1991. The medium security prison for criminal prisoners was closed five years later. With
3619-412: The more foolish". According to crew member Harmen Koops, on 18 February 1766 , Krause ordered him to bring on deck some assegais (a type of African spear) and some swords for the Malagasy to clean. The assegais had been acquired on Madagascar along with the Malagasy, some of whom were experienced in the use of this weapon. Krause believed himself to be intellectually superior to the Malagasy, and
3696-466: The mutineers encountered a black shepherd, but he ran away before they could speak to him; believing that they were indeed in Madagascar, they returned to the ship. Meanwhile, the surviving crew members were becoming desperate; having observed that the ocean current was setting onshore, and knowing of the arrangements for signal fires, they wrote messages asking for Dutchmen on land to light three fires on
3773-403: The north-western coast of Madagascar on 20 January 1766 . In 1766 supercargo Johann Krause was probably the most experienced merchant trading in Madagascar, although he had been "guilty of an earlier indiscretion in 1760", on the VOC ship Neptunus . To avoid the loss of profit caused by enslaved Malagasy dying while at sea, Krause convinced Captain Muller, who was in his first command and
3850-417: The remaining Malagasy ashore. One end of a rope was anchored to the shore, and at low tide volunteers from the Dutch group on shore swam out to Meermin , bringing the other end of the rope with them and handing it up to the crew on the ship. The crew then helped the remaining fifty-three Malagasy climb down to the Dutch volunteers, who helped them to shore, some carrying children on their backs. The Dutch built
3927-455: The scenarios. Even if the warming is limited to 1.5 °C, global sea level rise is still expected to exceed 2–3 m (7–10 ft) after 2000 years (and higher warming levels will see larger increases by then), consequently exceeding 2100 levels of sea level rise under RCP 8.5 (~0.75 m (2 ft) with a range of 0.5–1 m (2–3 ft)) well before the year 4000. Meermin slave mutiny A slave mutiny on Meermin , one of
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#17328733687564004-429: The sea" at the time of the attack, was taken by surprise and stabbed three times by Massavana . Muller escaped to his cabin and soon climbed down from a window, via the rudder, to join the others in the gunroom. Crew member Rijk Meyer, who had been thrown overboard with others from the rigging, managed to swim around the ship to a rope hanging from the gunroom window, and was pulled to safety by his shipmates. Although
4081-438: The ship in an attempt to regain their freedom; Krause was among the first of the crew to be killed, and Muller was stabbed three times but survived. The crew negotiated a truce, under the terms of which the Malagasy undertook to spare the lives of the surviving crew members. In exchange, it was agreed that Meermin would return to Madagascar, where the Malagasy would be released. Gambling on the Malagasy's ignorance of navigation,
4158-437: The ship on the shore. As it was judged too expensive to salvage the hull, Meermin was ultimately left to break up where she grounded. On 30 October 1766 the VOC's Council of Justice found Captain Muller and the surviving ship's mate, Daniel Carel Gulik, guilty of culpable negligence and sentenced them to demotion and dismissal from the company; they lost their rank and their pay was docked. They were also ordered to pay
4235-448: The ship to drift towards the shore, after which she ran aground on an offshore sandbank. The Malagasy could then see the militia on the shore preparing to come to the ship's assistance, and realised that their situation was hopeless; they surrendered and were once again enslaved. Muller, the ship's mate Daniel Carel Gulik and Krause's assistant Olof Leij were tried in the Dutch East India Company's Council of Justice; all three were fired from
4312-406: The ship to the shore and was brought to Le Sueur. He informed Le Sueur that the Malagasy on the ship had told him to find out whether the earlier landing party was there, but that he had secretly arranged with the other crew members that, if help was available on shore, he would signal back to the ship by waving a handkerchief above his head. Six Malagasy and another crew member also left Meermin in
4389-520: The ship's crew. Local officials had ordered local Dutch farmers and burghers to form an impromptu militia; some of the Malagasy were shot dead and some were imprisoned at Wessels Wesselsen's property close by. On 27 February, a local official named Hentz wrote a letter describing events to Johannes Le Sueur, the VOC magistrate for Stellenbosch , about 146 kilometres (91 mi) to the north-west. Two days later Le Sueur arrived in Soetendaal's Valleij ,
4466-469: The ship's mates, Bender and Albert, leaving only Daniel Carel Gulik surviving of that rank. Some of the surviving crew climbed into the rigging, and others, including Gulik, Koops, Jan de Leeuw, and Krause's assistant Olof Leij, withdrew to the Constapelskamer , or gunroom, which was below decks at the stern of the ship, near the rudder . Captain Muller, who stated that he had been "gazing out over
4543-585: The ship, and the Meermin drifted for three days. The crew members on the fore-mast initially reached an agreement with the Malagasy: the crew's lives were to be spared on condition that they sailed Meermin back to Madagascar; but this truce broke down; the crewmen were killed and their bodies thrown overboard. The crew in the gunroom were short of food and drink; Muller decided that they should attempt to regain control of Meermin . Neither Muller nor Gulik took part in
4620-401: The ship, and to return to Madagascar. According to Massavana , the Malagasy had "planned for a long time to become masters of the ship [and their] aim was to go back to [their] own country". It may be that the Malagasy had originally intended to sail the ship themselves, as did the slaves involved in a later mutiny on the VOC ship De Zon , in 1775; but they found that they could not control
4697-449: The shore in the ship's longboat and pinnace . They had promised their fellow Malagasy that they would light signal fires on the beach and send the boats back if it was safe for them to follow. Dutch farmers had spotted the ship, and observing that she was flying no flags understood that to be a distress signal. On coming ashore, the Malagasy reached a farm belonging to Dutchman Matthijs Rostok and discovered that they had been deceived by
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#17328733687564774-499: The shore to deceive the Malagasy on the ship into believing they were close to home rather than in a "Christian country", and to guard them "should the ship run aground". Convinced they would be killed if the Malagasy discovered the truth while still on board ship, the crew sealed their messages in bottles and dropped them into the onshore current. The VOC authorities in Cape Town had sent their chief ship's carpenter , Philip van den Berg, with two other ship's carpenters, two pilots ,
4851-595: The slave ship Meermin , who had been sold to the Dutch East India Company in Madagascar to be enslaved in the Cape Colony. Massavana died three years later but Koesaaij survived there for another 20 years. After the British Royal Navy captured several Dutch East Indiamen at the battle of Saldanha Bay in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1781, a boat rowed out to meet the British warships. On board were
4928-413: The species. The colony grew to a size of ~16,000 individuals in 2004, before starting to decline in size again. As of 2015 , this decline has been continuous (to a colony size of ~3,000 individuals). Such a decline has been found at almost all other African penguin colonies. Its causes are still largely unclear and likely to vary between colonies, but at Robben Island are probably related to a diminishing of
5005-421: The sunrise, and birds the Malagasy had seen, did not match those of his homeland, which he pointed out to Leij, who spoke enough of the Malagasy language to tell him that the land they saw was a different part of Madagascar. They dropped anchor when the ship was "a mile (1.6 km) offshore", and the mutiny's leader, with more than 50 – perhaps as many as 70 – other Malagasy men and women set off for
5082-461: The surface) as these pose a danger to shipping. A prevailing rough Atlantic swell surrounds the offshore reefs and the island's jagged coastline. Stricken vessels driven onto rocks are quickly broken up by the powerful surf . A total of 31 vessels are known to have been wrecked around the island. In 1990, a marine archaeology team from the University of Cape Town began Operation "Sea Eagle". It
5159-414: The top. In 1938, the lamp was converted to electricity. The lighthouse uses a flashing lantern instead of a revolving lamp; it shines for a duration of 5 seconds every seven seconds. The 46,000- candela beam, visible up to 44 kilometres (24 nmi) away, flashes white light away from Table Bay . A secondary red light acts as a navigation aid for vessels sailing south-southeast. When the Dutch arrived in
5236-457: The wounded Muller instead ordered his crew to head for the coast of southern Africa. After making landfall at Struisbaai in the Cape Colony, which the Malagasy were assured was their homeland, 50 to 70 of them went ashore. Their intention was to signal to the others still on board Meermin if it was safe for them to follow, but the shore party soon found themselves confronted by a militia of farmers formed in response to Meermin 's arrival;
5313-415: The wreck of Meermin . Between 1658 and 1799 the Dutch East India Company bought and transported approximately 63,000 enslaved people to its Cape Colony in southern Africa, now part of South Africa. In Dutch , the company's name was Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie : abbreviated as VOC , the company's initials were used in a monogram which appeared on company materials as a logo . Meermin
5390-492: Was a 480-ton square rigged ship of the Dutch hoeker -type, with three masts , which was built in 1759 in the Dutch port of Amsterdam for the VOC's African trade. From December 1765 she was working the coastline of Madagascar , under Captain Gerrit Muller and a crew of 56, taking Malagasy men, women and children to be enslaved in the Cape Colony. Carrying about 140 Malagasy, she set sail from "Betisboka Bay" on
5467-408: Was an underwater survey that scanned 31 square kilometres (9 square nautical miles) of seabed around Robben Island. The task was made particularly difficult by the strong currents and high waves of these waters. The group found 24 vessels that had sunk around Robben Island. Most wrecks were found in waters less than ten metres (33 ft) deep. The team concluded that poor weather, darkness and fog were
5544-454: Was constructed in 1939–40. After a failed uprising at Grahamstown in 1819, the fifth of the Xhosa Wars , the British colonial government sentenced African leader Makanda Nxele to life imprisonment on the island. He drowned on the shores of Table Bay after escaping the prison. The island was also used as a leper colony and animal quarantine station. Starting in 1845, lepers from
5621-482: Was for observation of their behaviour, in the hope that Massavana and Koesaaij might shed further light on how the mutiny had arisen. Massavana died on Robben Island on 20 December 1769 ; Koesaaij survived there for another 20 years. On 24 September 1998 – South Africa's Heritage Day – the building housing the South Africa Cultural History Museum,
5698-526: 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. In addition, the majority of prisoners were detained here for political reasons. 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). Robben Island
5775-468: Was no longer voluntary, and the movement of the lepers was restricted. Doctors and scientists did not understand the disease and thought that isolation was the only way to prevent other people from contracting it. Prior to 1892, an average of about 25 lepers a year were admitted to Robben Island, but in 1892 that number rose to 338, and a further 250 were admitted in 1893. During the Second World War ,
5852-424: Was preparing to go to the ship's assistance. Olof Leij persuaded the remaining Malagasy to surrender; he promised that, if they allowed themselves to be enslaved again, they would not be punished further. A second canoe, manned by Leij, Daniel Gulik and a ship's boy , went ashore to deliver news of the surrender. The weather had begun to deteriorate, and it was decided that the schuit was not strong enough to bring
5929-430: Was unwell at the time, to unshackle some of them and make them work on deck. Disease was spreading among the Malagasy in the unsanitary conditions below deck, and the ship's surgeon had reported that, while there were no suitable medicines on board, disease was spreading to the crew. Consequently, two days after the ship had left Madagascar, the crew moved a "large party of [Malagasy]" from confinement to make them work,
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