When the prison first opened 1960 – built as I said by former criminal inmates – only two thin mats were provided for sleeping and a bucket to serve as a toilet at night. In the late 60s Helen Suzman, a South African politician of Lithuanian-Jewish decent and the sole MP opposed to apartheid, campaigned for better conditions for political prisoners on Robben Island. Despite support from the UN it was 1974 before the then SA Government relented and provided beds with mattresses although other improvements recommended were very slow in being implemented including food.
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