From Secret Meetings to Reform: President Returns to Mandela’s Final Prison Home

President Cyril Ramaphosa has recounted the many secret meetings and weeks of careful planning that took place ahead of Nelson Mandela’s release 36 years ago.

In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News at Mandela’s prison house at Drakenstein Correctional Centre on Wednesday, Ramaphosa recalls there were mixed emotions ahead of the much-anticipated release.

President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to EWN in the kitchen of Nelson Mandela’s prison house on the premises of the Drakenstein Correctional Centre.

Ramaphosa was last here for strategic planning meetings with his political mentor, preparing for his homecoming.

"So being back here brings back all those memories as they just flash back."

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As the president walks through the prison property, a prison museum curator points out the holes in the walls and garden furniture where Apartheid police once hid recording devices to track Mandela’s conversations.

"Like a bird, Madiba could not be caged; he had to fly out."

On Wednesday, Ramaphosa returns to Drakenstein Correctional Centre to launch the Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy.

Here, prison officers will receive training on, among other things, the humane handling of offenders.

The centre is unveiled on the 36th anniversary of Mandela’s release.

- Written by Natalie Malgas