'Izingoma zo Mzabalazo' Esiqithini! Role of Songs in the African Liberation Struggle of South Africa, 1960--1991. A Culture History of Robben Island

This dissertation is on the subject of Robben Island Maximum Security Prison—the Alcatraz of the South African state—off the coast of Cape Town, in South Africa. It examines the role of songs in the African liberation struggle in South Africa, with the case study of Robben Island prison, from 1960 to 1991. The prison Robben Island was at the heart of the South African struggle; and whilst a great deal has been written about the heroic struggles on Robben Island. Little, if any, has been said about the cultural struggles and achievements of the Robben Islanders. The inhuman conditions of imprisonment on Robben Island failed to destroy the will of artists who wanted to voice their achievements and failures, hopes and frustrations, and the inevitability of their release and ultimate liberation through song, singing and music.;The thesis affirms that culture played an important role in the liberation struggle of South Africa; but sadly, it is in the arena of culture that little attention has been paid.;Consequently, this study fills a gap in the cultural history of South Africa and specifically of Robben Island. For thirty-one years of the history of political imprisonment on the Island prison, through the medium of song, political prisoners were able to overcome the pettiness of colonial and apartheid system that was meant to dehumanize their humanity. Song became a cultural weapon to protest, resist, defy and kept the spirits of a community of political prisoners alive and willing to continue to fight the struggle in the most brutal prison of the apartheid era. These songs were sung mainly in the African languages of Southern Africa and as such became a medium of communication that was also meant to politicize those who came to prison by default.;It is the contention of this dissertation that without a cultural history of the African people of South Africa, we cannot fully comprehend the struggle history of the African people in South Africa.