NELSON Mandela was in his 18th year of imprisonment on South Africa’s Robben Island when Jimmy Cliff visited the country in May 1980.

Though international opposition to South Africa’s Apartheid system was fierce, Cliff defied the stigma of being blacklisted and became the first Jamaican reggae artiste to perform in the renegade country.

He did three shows in Soweto, Durban and Cape Town, playing to enthusiastic audiences, especially in Soweto, the impoverished township which was a flashpoint for the anti-Apartheid struggle.

Copeland Forbes, Cliff’s road manager on the two-week trip, recalls apprehension in the singer’s camp when he was approached by a group of black South African promoters to perform in their country.

“It was exciting for us, since most of us had never been to Africa. But we also knew about Apartheid and that people (including musicians and sportsmen) who went to South Africa were banned,” Forbes recalled.

Cliff had been a superstar since the early 1970s through his starring role in the movie The Harder They Come. He had visited Africa several times and performed in Nigeria.

Forbes says Cliff was hugely popular in South Africa. His cover of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry was an anthem there, while his I Am The Living album was also popular.

The first show in Soweto was by far the largest, Forbes remembers. It attracted over 100,000 fans of all races who gave Cliff a rapturous welcome.

“It was a moving sea of human beings… black, white, Indians. Everybody was shouting ‘Jimmy! Jimmy!” said Forbes. “There was also a lot of security with dogs.”

Though they stayed in suitable accommodations, Cliff and his Oneness band experienced South Africa’s rigid colour barriers.

“We went to the parks and stores and we saw signs marked ‘Whites only’ or ‘Blacks and Coloured,” said Forbes.

During a break from shows, Cliff and his band went to Table Mountain, a scenic location in Cape Town overlooking Robben Island. They played bongo drums for most of the day in tribute to Mandela, a founding member of the African National Congress who had been imprisoned since 1962 for his fight against Apartheid.

Forbes says Cliff was blacklisted briefly for his South African trip. There had been opposition to his visit by some militant blacks, but Forbes believes the general response among the native population was positive.

“A Zulu warrior told me that it was Jimmy’s music that soothed him in tough times. To a lot of black people, we were like saviours,” he said.

Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in 1990 after 27 years. Jimmy Cliff has not performed in South Africa since his historic sojourn 33 years ago.