The prison guard who grew up hating Mandela ended up close to him. How did that happen? | policy

A new documentary film entitled “Free Nelson Mandela” reveals an unusual side of the history of one of the most influential political symbols of the 20th century, through live testimonies of people who were associated with him during his long years of imprisonment on Robben Island, including Christo Brand, the white-skinned prison guard, who gradually transformed from a young employee into a witness to historical transformations that changed South Africa.

Michael O’Dell wrote in an article published by the British newspaper The Times that this documentary returns – nearly four decades after Mandela’s release from prison in February 1990 – to the details of daily life behind bars, where Mandela had been serving his life sentence since 1964, in harsh isolation inside a small cell no more than a few metres, amid an apartheid regime that was ruling the country with a tight security grip.

Human relationship

Christo Brand, who joined Robben Island prison at the age of 19, tells how he was initially given simple tasks such as sorting Mandela’s mail. But he soon found himself facing a reality different from the image painted for him by official propaganda, which described political prisoners as terrorists.

He says that his direct contact with Mandela and other leaders made him reconsider that narrative.

Over time, an unconventional human relationship developed between the guard and the prisoner, which developed into something resembling friendship, despite the limits of the strict security system.

Brand reveals that he sometimes helped Mandela obtain uncensored letters, and on one occasion even allowed him to carry his granddaughter in his hands inside the prison, in a rare moment that broke the monotony of harsh life on Robben Island.

Apartheid

But behind this personal relationship, the political reality was more complex. South Africa at that stage was experiencing the height of the apartheid system, where laws separated the population on the basis of race in housing, work, education, and marriage.

The documentary presents testimonies that reflect the prevailing mentality at the time, including racist attitudes that considered blacks “unqualified” for equality.

On the other hand, the film presents a picture of Christo Brand himself growing up in a less strict rural environment, where his father questioned the government’s racist rhetoric and called on him to treat everyone with the same respect. This contrast contributed to shaping his later position inside the prison.

One of the most sensitive moments in the documentary relates to the government’s attempt in the mid-eighties to release Mandela on conditions. Mandela rejected the offer, adhering to his position of refusing to leave without also releasing his comrades, saying that he would rather die in prison than be released alone.

He would rather die than go out alone

One of the most sensitive moments in the documentary concerns the government’s attempt in the mid-1980s to release Mandela on parole, fearing wider unrest.

But Mandela rejected the offer, which prompted the security services to try to exploit Brand’s relationship with him, by recording conversations between them in an attempt to push him to change his mind.

However, Mandela stuck to his position of refusing to leave without releasing his comrades as well, saying that he would rather die in prison than be released alone.

In parallel with Mandela’s story, the documentary presents other testimonies of former political prisoners, including James Mangi, who belongs to the military wing of the African National Congress.

Mangi, who was tortured and sentenced to death before his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, presents a more radical vision compared to Mandela, especially regarding the distribution of wealth after the fall of the regime.

Bob Marley Robben Island

Mangi admits that he disagreed with Mandela politically, considering that the latter’s optimism was exaggerated. However, he maintained a human relationship with him during the years of imprisonment, as they were held in opposite cells on Robben Island.

The documentary also highlights the cultural role of detainees, as some of them were able to transform the prison into a symbolic resistance space.

Mangi founded a musical band inside the prison, after a long struggle to obtain instruments, using the hunger strike as a means of pressure. He was later nicknamed “Bob Marley on Robin Island,” in reference to the effect of music in raising morale inside the prison.

His birthday party at Wembley

At the international level, the film shows how music and grassroots campaigns helped transform Mandela’s cause into a global symbol. In the 1980s, the song “Free Nelson Mandela” helped spread awareness of the issue, while his 70th birthday concert in Wembley, Britain, became a global event watched by hundreds of millions, with the participation of international music stars, which increased pressure on the Pretoria regime.

By the end of the 1980s, the escalation of international sanctions and internal strikes led to the gradual collapse of the apartheid regime, and Mandela was released from prison in 1990 amid an unprecedented global reception.

However, the end of imprisonment was not – according to some testimonies in the documentary – the end of the debate about the future of the country.

While Mandela called for reconciliation and reconstruction, some of his former comrades believe that the political transition did not achieve the desired economic justice, and that the social gap still exists even after the transition to democracy.

Regret and confession

At the conclusion of the documentary, contradictory testimonies intersect between remorse and confession, including the admission of a former apartheid official that the state “did not understand Mandela’s demands correctly,” and that organizing society based on color was “an unnecessary disaster.”

As for Christo Brand, he concludes his testimony in a tone closer to contemplation, considering that the thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people during the years of apartheid were not an inevitable result, but rather a historical mistake that could have been avoided. He recalls his father’s old words: How can it be healthy to build a country based on skin color?

The documentary does not merely present a traditional biography of a historical leader, but rather reopens questions of memory, justice, and reconciliation, through voices from inside and outside the prison, who lived through the transition from an oppressive regime to a new state that is still searching for its balance between dream and reality.