In August 1962, with the help of the CIA, Mandela was arrested and imprisoned by the apartheid regime in South Africa. At that time, the government sentenced Mandela to 5 years in prison for "incitement" and "illegal crossing". Della began his 27-year "prison career".

Mandela sentenced to life sentence leaves court with fist out of prison van
Mandela sentenced to life sentence leaves court with fist out of prison van
On October 15, 1962, Mandela was imprisoned at the Pretoria District Prison. There, Mandela was held in solitary confinement for his own interests, for up to 23 hours a day, with only half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon each day. In the solitary cell there is no natural light, no writing items, and everything is cut off from the outside. Ultimately, Mandela gave up some of his rights, and he wanted to be able to communicate with others.

Mandela
Mandela
In June 1964, the South African government sentenced Mandela, who was serving a life sentence for "attempting to violently overthrow the government", when he was transferred to Robben Island. Robben Island was South Africa's largest secret prison from the mid-1960s to 1991, and a large number of black political prisoners were held on the island. Mandela's cell on Robben Island was only 4.5 square meters, where he was treated inhumanly. Prisoners on Robben Island were forced by their jailers to do hard labor in the island's quarry. On the island, Mandela hoped that the prison would allow him to open a vegetable garden in the prison's yard. The prison refused many times, but finally agreed to Mandela's request. On the island, Mandela still insisted on physical exercise, such as running in the cell, doing push-ups for exercise.

In 1982, Mandela left Robben Island and he was transferred to Ballsmoor Prison. Since then, Mandela ended his 18-year captivity on Robben Island. He also opened a vegetable garden here and planted nearly 900 plants.

In May 1984, officials allowed Mandela to have "contact" visits with his wife. When his wife heard the news, he thought Mandela might be ill. When the two visited, they hugged each other. "It's the first time I've kissed and hugged my wife in so many years. It's been 21 years since I've touched my wife's hand."[4]