The conditions of the prison facilities at this time reached an all-time low. Sixty prisoners were crammed into a cell made to house twenty men. They were woken up at 5:30 every morning and forced to leap across the compound naked. There was a strip full cavity search every morning. Breakfast consisted of a cold cup of coffee and porridge. Men were forced to eat on their haunches. During the day the prisoners were forced to do hard labor on the mainland. Jobs consisted of moving a mountain of dirt from one location to another and then back again. Deaths from starvation and disease were common, and deaths from beatings were even higher.

Robben Island was said to be a place of Hell, a place of desolate banishment from which few returned. The prison was an institution that perpetuated segrehation and recism. Hundreds of thousands died for the colour of their skin and the tenor of their ideas.