Forty pupils from six high schools in and around Mthatha yesterday jetted off to Robben Island in the Western Cape to learn more about the life and times – especially the prison life – of Nelson Mandela.
The pupils – from Umtata High School, St Johns College, Zingisa High School and Nozuko High School – are learning about Mandela as a liberator, renowned prisoner, statesman and a royal.
Also travelling in the group are two schools with close ties to Madiba – Milton Mbekela in Qunu, where Madiba is buried, and the Mandela School of Science and Technology from Mvezo, where he was born 100 years ago this year.
The five-day trip – from yesterday to Saturday – falls within the national human settlement’s youth exchange programme and forms part of the department’s Nelson Mandela centenary celebrations, which were launched by deputy minister Zou Kota-Fredericks and MEC Mlungisi Mvoko in Qunu this week.
“We are taking Eastern Cape high school learners to Robben Island, where they will meet 40 other learners from the Western Cape who will all participate in capturing the landmarks they visit as murals or canvases, be part of a youth leadership camp and a career expo on Robben Island.
“We want to have a multiplying effect of Madiba on today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders,” said Kota-Fredericks.
Also among the places visited will be Groot Drakenstein Prison, formerly known as Victor Verster Prison, an unofficial attraction in the life and times of Madiba. It was here where, in a house on the property near Paarl, Mandela spent the last 14 months of his 27-year imprisonment.
He was transferred there from Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison in December 1988.
Instead of being locked up in a cell, Madiba was held in a house previously occupied by a prison warder.
He duplicated its design for his post-release home in Qunu, which is located behind the big pink house in Qunu.
Madiba walked through the gates of the Groot Drakenstein Prison to freedom on February 11 1990.
EC pupils off to Robben Island
Image: Lulamile Feni
Forty pupils from six high schools in and around Mthatha yesterday jetted off to Robben Island in the Western Cape to learn more about the life and times – especially the prison life – of Nelson Mandela.
The pupils – from Umtata High School, St Johns College, Zingisa High School and Nozuko High School – are learning about Mandela as a liberator, renowned prisoner, statesman and a royal.
Also travelling in the group are two schools with close ties to Madiba – Milton Mbekela in Qunu, where Madiba is buried, and the Mandela School of Science and Technology from Mvezo, where he was born 100 years ago this year.
The five-day trip – from yesterday to Saturday – falls within the national human settlement’s youth exchange programme and forms part of the department’s Nelson Mandela centenary celebrations, which were launched by deputy minister Zou Kota-Fredericks and MEC Mlungisi Mvoko in Qunu this week.
“We are taking Eastern Cape high school learners to Robben Island, where they will meet 40 other learners from the Western Cape who will all participate in capturing the landmarks they visit as murals or canvases, be part of a youth leadership camp and a career expo on Robben Island.
“We want to have a multiplying effect of Madiba on today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders,” said Kota-Fredericks.
Also among the places visited will be Groot Drakenstein Prison, formerly known as Victor Verster Prison, an unofficial attraction in the life and times of Madiba. It was here where, in a house on the property near Paarl, Mandela spent the last 14 months of his 27-year imprisonment.
He was transferred there from Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison in December 1988.
Instead of being locked up in a cell, Madiba was held in a house previously occupied by a prison warder.
He duplicated its design for his post-release home in Qunu, which is located behind the big pink house in Qunu.
Madiba walked through the gates of the Groot Drakenstein Prison to freedom on February 11 1990.
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