Oudste boorling sterf

Na aanleiding van die berig in Die Burger oor die afsterwe van Dr Van Der Spuy het ek weer gedink aan ons besoek aan die eiland. Ons het die fotos geneem tydens ons besoek op 4 April 2011.

The way they talked

FIRE HILL:

The Island Society refers to the highest part of Our Island as “Fire Hill”, its original name.

ISLAND SOCIETY PARTNERS:

“Island Society partners” are individuals, organisations, companies or governments who are not members of the Island Society, but are involved in or sponsor projects of the RIIHS.

LEPER/LEPRA/LEPROSY/LEPROUS:

The RIIHS uses the terms leper, lepra, leprosy and leprous as well as derivations, declensions or inflections thereof and compounds which include these terms, in quotation marks or refer to “so-called” when pertaining to people detained as “leprous” patients on Our Island in the period 1845-1931.

LUNACY / LUNATIC / MENTALLY DISTURBED/DERANGED /
MENTAL DISEASE/DISORDER/ILLNESS:

The terms “lunacy”, “lunatic”, “mentally disturbed”, “mentally deranged”, “mental disturbment”, “mental derangement”, “mental disease”, “mental disorder” and “mental illness” as well as synonoms, derivations, declensions or inflections thereof and compounds which include these terms, are used in quotation marks by the Island Society or referred to as “so-called” when pertaining to people detained as “mental” patients on Our Island in the period 1845-1921.

OUR ISLAND /  RI:

When referring to the Table Bay island that is situated about 11 km north of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and about 7 km west of Bloubergstrand and that is registered in the Cape Town Deeds Office as “Cape Farm no. 432” and of which the official name is “Robbeneiland”, according to the South African Geographical Names Council (sagns.dac.gov.za), the Robben Island International Historical Society often uses the term “Our Island” or the abbreviation “RI”.

REMAINDER OF THE PATIENTS’ GRAVEYARD:

The remainder of the cemetery which is currently (2011) still incorrectly identified as the “Leper Graveyard”, is called the “Remainder of the Patients’ Graveyard” by the Robben Island International Historical Society.

ROBBEN ISLAND BATTERY:

The three 9.2-inch guns still in their original WW II positions on Our Island together with the smaller guns are referred to as the “Robben Island Battery” by the RIIHS. This is its original name.

Visit to the Island

Picture taken from the Island during our visit 2011

In April 2011, we visited the Island and got introduced to the Island and it richness in culture and history. My father-in-law, Jan Hendrik Pistor, was born on the Island. My wife Martha, one of Faan’s sisters, and I visited the Island as guests of Faan and in the process we took this picture. Table mountain is an icon in photography and I can just think how many times people saw this view and longed to go back to the mainland.

Ons probeer weer.

Hello World

For some time this site/blog was empty, but now we are trying once again to get this up and running and get some comments going. Please help us build this process and support our efforts. In due time it will become a valuable piece of history about our island.

Enjoy Friday!

Welcome to RIIHS

WELCOME to the website of the Robben Island International Historical Society (RIIHS), a registered nonprofit organisation whose motto is: OUR ISLAND, OUR SHARED HERITAGE.The main purposes of this website are to share information about Robben Island (RI) and the stories of, and about, Our Island’s erstwhile inhabitants – political prisoners, personnel and patients alike – and to promote enthusiasm for Robben Island.Although this website is currently available in Afrikaans and English only, other languages will be added when sponsorships for that purpose are received or able volunteers translate for us.

As the RIIHS is run by ordinary, working-class volunteers who do in their little spare time what they can when they can, we kindly ask you to be patient while we are building this website. You, therefore, are more than welcome to visit this website regularly to watch our proud progress.

This website is dedicated to all who suffered, lived, worked, were born, got married or died on Our Island. Hopefully this website will eventually be worthy of the precious memory of all who died on Robben Island, especially those thousands of poor people buried in unmarked graves on RI.

Enjoy your visits to our website. Please feel free to contact us.

Our email address is info@riihs.org or onse.eiland@gmail.com.

Our postal address is: Robben Island International Historical Society
PO Box 533
Milnerton
Republic of South Africa
7435

Sebastian Pistor (“Faan”), chairperson of the RIIHS, can be reached on the international mobile number +27 82 447 5424 or if you are in South Africa, on the Vodacom number 082 447 5424.

If he is not available, please leave a voice message, send an SMS or even better, send an email to info@riihs.org.

Fred Miller, vice-chairperson of the RIIHS, can be reached at the international landline number +27 21 913 4282 or if you are in South Africa, on the Telkom number 021 913 4282.

His mobile number is: +27 82 770 9804 (international); 082 770 9804 (South Africa).