How sport became a beacon of hope for prisoners on Robben Island

ROBBEN Island is mostly associated with the suffering, brutality and isolation endured by political prisoners who fought against Apartheid.

- OWN CORRESPONDENT

What is often overlooked is the role prisoners played in organising sport and how it became a tool of resistance, sustaining hope and preparing them for freedom and leadership.“Political prisoners used sport not just for recreation, but to organise themselves, educate one another and create a sense of order in a harsh system built on control. Sport offered them physical release, emotional expression and relieved the psychological strain of isolation, monotony and hard labour,” said Dr Vanessa Mitchell, Museum and Heritage Education Coordinator at the Robben Island Museum.

Mitchell recently received her doctorate in Sport Science from Stellenbosch University for her research on how prisoners on the island actively shaped their environment by organising sport and recreation.

“Says sport became a tool of resistance, discipline, and solidarity in an oppressive environment. “It became a way for prisoners to create something meaningful that allowed them to rise above their immediate harsh surroundings. The satisfaction they derived from organising sport lay in the simple act of surviving with dignity. Sport sustained hope”

But sport was also about preparation - for freedom, for leadership, and for ethical life beyond prison. “Sport on Robben Island mirrored the kind of society prisoners envisioned beyond prison walls — one grounded in rules, fairness, accountability and collective responsibility, even though this was not initially a fully conscious political project.”