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Nelson Mandela's biography The Long Walk to Freedom became an international bestseller and is being made into a film. But the famous book may never have seen the light of day if it wasn't for the bravery and persistence of another Robben Island inmate."We were housed in individual cells, each cell had a window looking out into the corridor. Warders patrolled day and night, lights were on 24 hours a day."
Mac Maharaj was one of four long-term prisoners on Robben Island secretly collaborating on the first draft of the autobiography of Nelson Mandela - along with other Africa National Congress activists Ahmed Kathrada and Walter Sisulu.
"Mandela had to write every night. He wrote on average 10-15 pages with very little reference material - he wrote by discussion and recollection," says the 76-year-old.
"The next morning it would circulate to Kathrada and Sisulu for their comments, which would come back to me to transcribe. And the next night he would write another 10-15 pages."
Both men would sometimes feign illness so they could stay in the grounds and spend their time working alone in the prison quadrangle. Writing was strictly a night time affair, but this was their opportunity to discuss the copy and the edits.
Their determination to write overcame the fear of being caught.
"We were living in a society where the history of our struggle was not covered anywhere - not even in academia. Everything in history was the history about the white man.
"So that in itself was an exciting exercise to put down on paper the life of one man who was so central [to the struggle], and whose autobiography was really a political autobiography. One had a sense that Mandela had already become a national and international figure and that it would be an inspiration to read our history."
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Mandela's writings were transcribed by Mahararaj behind bars (National Archives of South Africa, courtesy NMF)
They used thin sheets of lined A4 paper from a stash of stationery available to prisoners, many of whom were studying for degrees - Mr Maharaj included.
"I had to transcribe it into a form that I could hide. We used both sides of [the paper], and we used tiny handwriting."
Mr Maharaj's painstakingly scribbled transcriptions were hidden amongst his study materials - 60 sheets of paper concealed in the covers of a handmade file that was used to carry statistical maps.
Meanwhile, Mr Mandela's handwritten copy - the original draft of the book - was put into tin containers and buried in a vegetable patch.
One October afternoon Mac Maharaj was unexpectedly called to the prison offices and told he wouldn't be returning to his cell. He would be moving on - leaving without his belongings.
After a moment of panic, he began arguing with the guards - demanding to return to pack up his books and study materials, which contained the all-important transcriptions.
Still apparently oblivious of his clandestine work with Mandela, the guards allowed him to leave with some books, which contained some of the writings. And thinking on his feet, he hatched another plan.
"I had the presence of mind to say, 'My books are lent out, exchanged with people and there are books in my cell that don't belong to me. So go to Kathrada, go to Sisulu. Ask them to help to pack my books.'"
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15422179)