Since his release, the prison has been closed and today it is a World Heritage Site, museum and one of Cape Town’s leading tourist attractions.

The island was not only a prison to Mandela and his fellow ANC leaders – it was also used as a hospital for lepers and mentally and chronically ill people from the mid-1800s to the 1930s.

Your clients can retrace Mandela’s footsteps by booking one of four tours a day from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. From here they will go on a half-hour ferry ride to the island, which lies about 7km offshore.

On the tour, usually led by a former political prisoner, they will be shown the quarry where Mandela once worked alongside other prisoners, as well as his single-bed cell from which he could see Table Mountain. For many visitors, this is a deeply moving experience.