Historical Organization
Victor Verster Prison
Victor Verster Prison
Details
Organization Timeline
Mandela moves from hospital to Victor Verster Prison
📅 7 December 1988Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl and held in a house on the prison grounds. The Nelson Mandela Foundation’s prison chronology dates the transfer to 7 December 1988; an abridged...
Mandela meets State President P. W. Botha
📅 5 July 1989Mandela met State President P. W. Botha at Tuynhuys in Cape Town. The meeting followed years of secret and semi-public contact between Mandela and government representatives. Mandela continued to...
Mandela meets President F. W. de Klerk
📅 13 December 1989Mandela met President F. W. de Klerk in Cape Town. Their meeting followed the release of several senior comrades and took place amid escalating popular opposition to apartheid. Mandela entered the...
Mandela and De Klerk negotiate the place and timing of his release
📅 10 February 1990De Klerk informed Mandela that he would be released the next day in Johannesburg. Mandela objected to a planned transfer and insisted on walking through Victor Verster’s gates; he asked for additional...
Mandela walks free from Victor Verster after 27 years in prison
📅 11 February 1990Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison after 27 years in prison, accompanied by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The release was unconditional, following years of rejection of offers that would have...