my prisoner became my friend

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

The moment I smuggled a baby into Nelson Mandela's jail cell... and my prisoner became my friend, by Robben Island guard

Christo Brand was Nelson Mandela's guard at Robben Island and Pollsmoor prisons. He befriended the leader and helped him learn Afrikaans and also brought his baby granddaughter Zoleka to him in prison. The act would have seen Mr Brand lose his job if he had been discovered. After Mandela walked free from his final prison, Victor Verster, in 1990, the pair remained friends.