Sayed Abduraghman Motura

Robben Island first gained notoriety as a prison for eastern political exiles, sultans, spiritualists, convicts and slaves. It is as a reminder of the injustices and the ill-treatment afforded these prisoners that a Kramat is to be found on the island.The eastern political exiles and convicts are truly the pioneers of Islam in this country; and thus Robben Island becomes very much a part of the history of the Muslims in South Africa.

Sayed Abduraghman Motura (also known as Tuan Matarah) whose shrine on Robben Island, is a symbol of the struggle for the establishment of Islam. It is an expression of Islam’s power, having survived all kinds of restrictions, prejudices, imprisonment and oppression in a land called ‘the fairest Cape on the circumference of the earth.’ Ironically, this shrine was constructed by the Apartheid Prison authorities in the 1960s.

 

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Robben Island GPS Co-ordinates

S 33* 54.455 and E 18* 25.355 (at drop off and go at the clock tower entrance at v&a waterfront) 
S 33* 54.395 and E 18* 25.328 (at clock tower building at the mandela's gateway entrance to the ferry/boat)