ITV
ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa — A former Robben Island corrections officer has revealed that he once smuggled a baby into Nelson Mandela’s cell in a bleak, maximum security prison so he could see his grandchild.
Christo Brand said he was just 19 when he first came face-to-face with Nelson Mandela, who was then 60, but soon became friends with the man who would become South Africa’s leader. But Mr Brand told ITV News that despite Mandela’s historic rise to power, he never saw a change in him from “prisoner to president”.
He told ITV News about the moment that Mandela’s then wife Winnie begged him to allow her to take a baby, Mandela’s grandchild, into his cell. Mr Brand said Winnie Mandela pushed the baby into his arms and wanted to give him some money.
“I said I would just hold it while she went to see Mandela for a few seconds,” he said. “I sneaked to one side and when Mandela came out of that visit I was in the passage.”
He added: “And for him to take that baby out of my arms was quite emotional. He had tears in his eyes, he kissed the baby twice, and then I took the baby away out of his arms. That was a few seconds and then I took it back to Winnie. She was still begging me to show him the child. And Mandela kept it a secret.”
Full story: Former Robben Island prison guard smuggled a baby into Nelson Mandela’s jail cell