CAPE TOWN : Reunion on Robben
South African President Nelson Mandela marks the fifth anniversary of his release from jail with a reunion on Robben Island, where he spent 18 years imprisoned by the former apartheid government.
Organizers say about 1,200 former prisoners will join Mandela on the island on Friday. Mandela will then make a speech in nearby Cape Town on Saturday, the anniversary of his release in 1990. His liberation set the stage for the electoral victory of the African National Congress which brought the country’s black majority to power last spring.
Reunion participants will debate the future of the island, which may become a museum.
The 76-year-old president last month underwent successful surgery on a tear duct damaged by dust from hard labor in a lime quarry during his years in jail.
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