Keynote speaker, leadership storyteller, and reconciliation speaker
Leadership teams, corporate audiences, government institutions, educational organisations, conferences focused on ethics, reconciliation, and human-centered leadership.
Christo Brand is a South African leadership speaker and storyteller whose life was profoundly shaped by his role as a prison guard to Nelson Mandela. In 1978, at just 19 years old, Christo arrived on Robben Island as an Afrikaans-speaking prison warder working within the apartheid system. Mandela, then 60, was serving a life sentence as South Africa’s most famous political prisoner. What began as a relationship defined by power, race, and ideology evolved into an extraordinary bond rooted in trust, respect, and shared humanity.
In 1982, Christo was transferred alongside Mandela to Pollsmoor Prison, where he continued guarding him for the next six years. Over time, the two men developed a close friendship that defied the divisions of apartheid. Their relationship demonstrated the power of empathy, dignity, and choice in even the most dehumanising circumstances.
Christo is the co-author of Doing Life with Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend, published in 2014, which offers rare, behind-the-scenes insight into Mandela’s character, leadership, and daily life in prison. The book has been widely praised for its honesty and its powerful lessons on reconciliation and moral courage.
Christo Brand is a South African former prison guard who was one of several that were responsible for guarding Nelson Mandela. He came to Robben Island, where Mandela was being held, in 1978 when he was 19 years old.
In 1982 he was transferred along with Mandela to Pollsmoor Prison. Christo and Mandela developed a close friendship over the course of many years. He is the co-author of his book, Doing Life with Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend (2014). Christo retired from Robben Island on 31st July 2018 to pursue his storytelling on a full-time basis.
How was it possible for these two men from such seemingly different backgrounds to develop a relationship which was to become so much more – a lasting friendship based on a mutual trust and respect for each other?
Surely, they should have hated each other. One was a white, 18-year-old Afrikaans speaking prison guard representing the oppressive, apartheid regime of the time; the other – a black, 60-year-old Xhosa speaking terrorist serving a life sentence.
Rather than join the army for National Service as was compulsory for every South African white male, Christo Brand decided to join the prison service. After training for a year in Kroonstad, he applied for a post on Robben Island because he wanted to be close to home.
His application was successful and at the age of 19 he was sent to work on Robben Island in 1978. That was when Christo first came across Nelson Mandela who at that time was 60 years old. This was where they formed a relationship which was to become so much more. A close friendship built on trust and mutual respect for each other.
In 1982, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison. On 13th March that year, Christo married Estelle. Soon afterwards, Christo was transferred to Pollsmoor and was responsible for guarding Mandela for the next 6 years.
Encouraged and supported by Nelson Mandela, in 2014 Christo wrote his book “Doing Life with Mandela – My Prisoner, My Friend”, with co-author Barbara Jones.
In the Foreword, Ahmed Kathrada writes: “My lasting impression of Christo Brand is that he’s a very good human being. He’s not a politician; he’s just a very caring man who took chances for other people, which could have brought him trouble.
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