Inventory Reference 9/2/018/0004 Relevant Heritage Authority SAHRA Formal Gradings Grading Grade I Grading Date 31/05/2001 GradingComment archiveimport Grading by: South African Heritage Resources Agency Statement of Significance "Throughout documented history, Robben Island has been associated with banishment, suffering and the sbjugation of the human spirit. From the earliest days of colonial rule, it was used as a place of banishment and exile for those opposing colonial authority and those who were viewed as diseased or dangerous outcasts. What transformed Robben Island and bestowed on it a unique quality has been the triumph of the human spirit over such conditions, leading to birth of a democratic nation. Out of conditions of extreme hardship, pain and suffering has arisen a spirit of hope and tolerance that has, in the words of President Nelson Mandela, turned this island into a world-wide icon of the universality of human rights, of hope, peace and reconciliation. (See CMP)
