Constitution Hill is home to the Constitutional Court, the foundation of all that is democratic in South Africa.
It is a reminder to all who visit that dignity, democracy, freedom and equality are entrenched in the Constitution.
For decades, South Africa was an international pariah, notorious for its apartheid policies.
A commanding presence, Constitution Hill overlooks Johannesburg and provides a unique perspective on the City of Gold and its rich history.
This site is home to the Constitutional Court, Women’s Gaol museum, Number Four museum, and the Old Fort museum.
“The Hill, as it is fondly known, is an engine of growth and transformation for downtown Johannesburg and a place where residents and visitors can interact in a space that takes the country’s history forward in a respectful but progressive manner,” explains Petal Thring, the chief executive officer of Constitution Hill.
A living museum
It is a living legacy of a very complex, tumultuous past going back to 1892, when the Old Fort was built by the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR), under president Paul Kruger.
It was built as a prison, but for a brief period during the South African War, or Anglo Boer War, of 1899 to 1902, it served as a military defence post. In the late 1800s and early 20th century, new buildings were added to the fort-like prison.
These included the Natives’ Section and isolation cells known as sections Four and Five, where black male prisoners were held, a Women’s Goal in 1907, and an Awaiting Trial building in the 1920s. Collectively, these buildings were known as the Fort, infamous for its brutal treatment of prisoners.
Common criminals and ordinary men and women who had contravened colonial and apartheid legislation were imprisoned here in abhorrent conditions.
Old Fort
Before it took on its role as apartheid prison, the Old Fort was used to defend the ZAR capital, Pretoria.
Kruger’s soldiers walked its ramparts in the war, until the British marched into town in 1900, and took over the structure.
The ramparts were built to protect the ZAR from British invasion, as well as intimidate migrant miners and keep an eye on them as they crowded into the village in search of gold. Reverting to a prison after the war, initially only white male prisoners were held here, except for Nelson Mandela, who, before the Rivonia Trial in 1962, was given a bed in the hospital section.
Rampart
It is a living legacy of a very complex, tumultuous past going back to 1892, when the Old Fort was built by the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR), under president Paul Kruger.
It was built as a prison, but for a brief period during the South African War, or Anglo Boer War, of 1899 to 1902, it served as a military defence post.
Women’s Jail
The Women’s Jail was a charming, Victorian brick building.
A space of such grace, yet it humiliated and brutalised its female prisoners, which included criminals and murderers, as well as anti-apartheid activists.
The infamous murderess Daisy de Melker was held here, as were prominent political stalwarts such as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Albertina Sisulu and Fatima Meer.
The women were particularly vulnerable.
An information board in the museum today quotes political activist Barbara Hogan:
“I could hear a doctor screaming at her saying, ‘You say your baby is sick, but if you cared about your baby, you would carry a pass.'”
Number Four
The sign above the entrance to the Natives’ section, Number Four, is a quote from Mandela: “It is said that no one really knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.”
Built to house 997 prisoners, it housed 2 200.
Here, thousands of black men were imprisoned and brutalised; yet many survived and defied their jailors.
Walking down a dark corridor on to a concrete courtyard on a drizzly, gloomy day gave a minute glimmer into what the prisoners must have felt when they arrived at the frightening Number Four.
For many, this was their last journey.
During the apartheid era, police would arrive numerous times a day with prisoners, who were given a prisoner number; this number was how they were identified.
Today, Constitution Hill, in Braamfontein has undergone a phenomenal transformation, a microcosm of the changes the country as a whole has undergone.
Once a place of inhumanity and brutality, it is now a place of justice and learning.
