Astounding natural beauty, rich history, edgy culture, two oceans... This could only be Cape Town, South Africa, the mother city, as it’s known.

And we’re looking for a very famous adopted son, which shouldn’t be hard, as his name - or image - can be found almost everywhere. It’s on the road signs, in the art, it’s even on the tips of tourists’ tongues.

“Nelson Mandela”, “Nelson Mandela”, “Nelson Mandela”... Nelson Mandela is now very much a part of the local tourist circuit. Why?

Tim Packer, British tourist, said, “The way he achieved reconciliation, it just seemed magnificent, you know, especially when you are expecting a bloodbath.”

But there must be more to it. Maybe what has been called the Madiba Magic. Mandela spent almost three decades in jails around Cape Town, until his release from these prison gates, in 1990. Now, 22 years later, South Africa is proud of its progress. But while the Cape Town of today paints a pretty picture, it’s not all so rosy.

Joseph Hoelzl, German tourist, said, “What you see is the townships and the white people are here and the black people are in the townships and so for us the tourists when you come here it’s still very strange to see people living in huts and other people have a lot of money.”

Take a short trip out of the city centre and the landscape changes, its bleaker, the horizon hazy, the future less certain.

Albert Bedlela, Langa resident, said, “Yes, Mandela did bring better changes, you see but only for then. But for now I don’t feel any changes because I am only from this generation, you see. If I was there I would say okay Mandela did bring some changes. But for now I did not see changes, since I grew up.”

Which raises questions.

Has freedom from the injustices of Apartheid come at the price of real transformation?

Did Mandela and the leadership of the ANC compromise too much?

And what is it about Nelson Mandela that allowed him to help lead the nation away from almost certain civil war?

To find out - We’ll start by taking a short journey from Cape Town. We’re on a boat was once used to ferry prisoners to and from the notorious Robben Island.

Christo Brand, Former Prison Warden, said, “He was put down there but in the later stages of his life he was seated here because he struggled to get down with handcuffs and chains. The prison warden would sit and he would put the elderly prisoners here. That was also closed but otherwise the other prisoners were taken down to the bottom and the wardens would sit in here and guard this side and that side and they will be locked in the bottom.”
We’re following Christo Brand, a former warden at the notorious Robben Island prison. Brand is joining fellow commuters who these days take the boat out to the island on a daily basis.

Robben Island lies at the centre of Table Bay. The island is a low-lying rock and although a lighthouse serves to keep ships away, many have been wrecked along its shores.

The Dutch name Robben refers to the seals that abound in the freezing waters, cold enough to dissuade most people from swimming the seven or so miles to the mainland.

Used for almost 400 years to house political prisoners from as far away as Indonesia, Robben Island has been, above all, a place of exile.

Christo Brand, Former Prison Warden, said, “This was always a place for banishment. Jan Van Riebeck came here with the slaves to build the castle, to work in the quarries here. Then that Xhosa chiefs were imprisoned here and all that…. Then the military took over and people were again on the island against their will. Then after that the prison service took over and people were kept in prison here again, against their will, incarcerated here.”

18 years after Robben Island’s prison was officially closed, Brand is back, this time of provide services to tourists.

Christo Brand, Former Prison Warden, said, “We decided to open a tuckshop at the back of the island. It was one of the old buildings which had been a clubhouse. We opened a tuckshop there which worked quite well. Now I’m in charge of the tuckshop at the back of the island, the village shop and on the boat we’ve got a small kiosk.”

During high season, hundreds of tourists flock to the island, daily. For much of the last century, this notorious jail held most of the leadership of the African National Congress, or ANC - and other opposition parties like the Pan African Congress. Its leader, Robert Sobukwe, was kept in isolation on the island for nine years. But for most visitors, the big draw card is Nelson Mandela.

“We always called him the old man but he doesn’t like that. He liked to be called Madiba.”

Some of the ex-prisoners are back on the island, working as tour guides. South Africa may have moved on but what they endured on the island still seems very real, to them.

Sparks Mlilwana, former political prisoner and tour guide, said, “At that time I was very young, I said ‘Well, we have to revenge.” But our leadership told us not to take revenge. Because if we took revenge, there would be an ongoing war here in South Africa”

Telling their stories to visitors helps heal some of the wounds.

Mncedisi Siswana, tour guide and former political prisoner, said, “Its difficult, yes of course, you know, by coming to work where you were incarcerated, where you spent years in , here in this prison, it’s very difficult. But at the same time it helped us a lot because some of us, after being released, we were never counseled, we could not see psychologists, to consult, to talk about our experience in prison and also how we got arrested, how we were tortured. We didn’t talk to people about that, even some of our family members we could not discuss those things. But coming to work here on Robben Island it helped us a lot because you could find people, maybe a group of people you have to talk to, they will ask you questions, you will tell them about your prison experience, how you got arrested, tortured, how you were involved in the struggle against Apartheid. And by doing that, by talking about that, that will make you feel much better. It’s like a therapy, you know, it helps you”