To understand why the Robben Island became an apartheid prison and what the prisoners struggled against during the last 30 years, it is important to know something about Apartheid.

It began in 1948 when the National Party first came to power. There was racial discrimination and seperation before that time but from that year onwards the government passed laws to enforce apartheid. It became the system that ruled every aspect of life in Southern Africa.

Black and white people were kept apart, it kept white people in power and black people without the right to choose the government. Under the Apartheid system, the people of South Africa were segregated according to skin colour. The Nationalist government distinguished between four different groups- Africans, coloureds, Indians and whites- and treated these groups differently. This is why the system was a racist, discrimating one; it was unfair because it applied different laws for each race group.

Black people were separated in many ways from society, not being allowed to vote, study, or being allowed the freedom to express them in thought or speech. Most of all in the ways, which their ancestors taught.

Different laws applied to each group and were unequal and unjust in its specifications. White Anglo Saxon leaders made the rules, owned about 90% of the land and were the only citizens-allowed to vote.

The Group Areas Act forced people to live in seperate areas according to race. The pass laws prevented so-called non-whites from moving around freely, going out at night or working were they chose. It was against the law for blacks and whites to marry or have sex with each other.

Black people could not own houses or property except in very limited areas and were often treated badly and insulting. The government spent six times more on a white child’s education than on a black child’s who didn’t even have to attend school.