I
was Nelson Mandela's jailer
during all those years the anti-apartheid icon was imprisoned on Robben
Island, and like millions around the world, I have been hit hard by Mandela’s death.
I was not one of Mandela’s fellow prisoners. I was Christo Brand his jailer.
The two of us the black political prisoner and the white Afrikaans warden
forged an unlikely but enduring friendship
We last met about two years ago when I am now in my 50’s. I brought my
wife, and son and grandson to see Mandela in Cape Town in a Sunday afternoon
visit that lasted nearly three hours. We had nice chats about the past, about our
families. He wanted to pick up my grandchild, to hold him, which he was a
little bit shy to go to him. You could see he really reached out for touching a
child at that moment. The two silver-haired men sat together and recalled a
court case 50 years ago that rocketed their friend and fellow freedom fighter
to fame. To one man in the group that friend is simply "Nel." To the
rest of the world he is Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner, South
Africa's former president, and a man who spent 27 years in jail for a cause he
told a court in 1964 that he was prepared to die for.
When I got the message when he passed
away, it was very sad for me” but I think he was successful and he did what he
wanted to do. I wanted him to go in ease and I am thinking of the family today,
what they go through. I started to work on Robin Island in 1978 when I was 18
and Mandela was 60. Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison on Robyn Island.
Eventually, I grew to like Mandela and smuggled in special treats like bread
and his favorite her pomade. I even sneaked in Mandela’s infant granddaughter
so there could hold her.
For his part Mandela encouraged me to
continue my education and maintain an interest in our families. Years later,
when Mandela was president, he took special care to single men out for
recognition while I was a lowly civil servant at the time a new constitution
was being drafted. Mandela flew in by helicopter and entered the room where
members of parliament were debating the new constitution. He went around the
room, shaking hands with the parliamentarians, but when he saw me as I was
distributing documents; Mandela lifted his arms and warmly greeted me. He
immediately made a big announcement to every one: ‘You know who this person is?
This person was my warden, this person was my friend.” I felt very humble and
proud at that moment. After that, when the parliamentarians went out for a
group photo, Mandela insisted that I be in the photo. He said, No. You must
stand next to me, we belong together.
I once again work on Robin Island; which
is no longer a prison but a bustling tourist attraction. I and former guards
and prisoners tell visitors about the new South Africa’s racial reconciliation.
I shared a joke with Mandela
about his final resting place.
“I say to Mandela that we must bury you
on Robin Island Then he just laughed He said, Why? For a tourist attraction?”
DR. KARL WALLACE D.D.S.
To read more of the Freedom Trial go
to; w.w.w.Karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
