The Constitutional Court

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CONSTITUTION HILL The Constitutional Court
the old fort
The contrast couldn't be more stark the legacy
of apartheid on the one side and the values of
freedom, equality and dignity on the other.
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Constitution Hill is the new hone of the
Constitutional Court, the protector of our basic
rights and freedom. Constitution Hill is also
the site of Johannesburgs notorious Old Fort
Prison complex, commonly known as Number four.
Thousands of ordinary people were brutally
punished in Number Four before the dawn of
democracy in 1994. Many of South Africas
leading political activists were detained here,
including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Joe
Slovo and the Women of the Struggle, amongst them
Winnie Mandela, Albertina Sisulu and Fatima Meer.
Constitution Hill is the Multimillion Rand
regeneration development project funded by Blue
IQ, Gauteng Provincial Development, the City of
Johannesburg, the Department of Justice and
administrated by the JDA.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
We the People,
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• The Constitutional Court is the highest law in
  the country and the keeper of our Human Rights
  and Freedom. On the 21st March 2004 the new
  Constitutional Court building was inaugurated by
  President Thabo Mbeki on Constitution Hill.
• The new court building is built on the site of
  the Old Fort Prison in Johannesburg. The site was
  chosen by the Justice of the Constitutional Court
  because of its intense emotional significance,
• symbolising the conversion of the negativity of
  the past into positivity for the future," (Judge
  Albie Sachs)

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The foyer is light-filled, lined by slanting
columns representing the trees under which
African villagers traditionally congregated to
discuss matters of social importance with
elders. Judge Albie Sachs was appointed,
together with fellow Judge Yvonne Mokgoro, to
take charge of decor when the Constitutional
Court came into being in 1994 at its old location
in Braampark in Braamfontein. What this has
primarily involved was acquiring - mostly through
donors - artworks for the walls of the
court. The result is that the court is not a
dull, stiff place where the scales of justice
appear somewhere along its cold corridors, but
rather a joyous place, where people feel at home
with recognised indigenous artefacts like fish
traps, tapestries with familiar symbols, or wire
lights. The art collection consists of around
200 works - oils, etchings, tapestries, wire
works, carvings - of mostly South African
artists, some very well known, others not known
at all.
Colourful foyer of the
Constitutional court
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The Court is best described in the words of
Judge Albie Sachs - . it is a Palace .. a
Palace for the People a glorious palace up
to which one lifts one's eyes on the Hill. And
since this is the age of democracy,. the Palace
will be open to everyone, a Palace for the
People.. And it will be a palace that makes
ordinary people, those with style,
say including wow!" The contrast couldn't
be more stark the legacy of apartheid on the one
side and the values of freedom, equality and
dignity on the other.
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THE OLD FORT PRISON COMPLEX
The Old fort Prison Complex
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The Old Fort Museum At the top of the
Great African Stairs, leading from the Court to
the Old fort, is a display of women who were
held in the prison - many formed the backbone of
the liberation struggle, defying the apartheid
system by refusing to carry passes or for
illegally brewing beer. The women were
particularly vulnerable. The women's prison is
still under renovation and will be opened
officially on the 27th April 2005. The Old
Forts main entrance, looking like a gash in the
hill, is a tunnel build beneath the rampart of
the fort sometime between 1896 and 1899 by the
premier of the then South African Republic, Paul
Kruger. Although the Old Fort was solely for
white male prisoners, Nelson Mandela was once
housed in the hospital section. Via a video
screen, Madiba recounts this experience. Mandela
shared his cell with another white inmate, whose
name he does not remember. Outside Mandela's
cell was Joe Slovo's "Chamber", a toilet that
Slovo used to hold legal consultations. A mark
notes the spot where inmates and warders alike
would queue in order to seek legal advice from
him. This Courtyard is aptly named the Slovo
Courtyard, where south Africans now gather to
learn about their proud Heritage. One of the
main cells in the Old Fort has now been turned
into the children's room, to be used as a
classroom for the three-hour schools' programme,
which involves a tour of the site, interactive
projects and pre- and post-site activities.

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The Management of Constitution Hill
Invites you and Your company to become Part
of The History in the Making For If we do not
know the past, how will we know how far we have
come And How Far we have yet to go!
Constitution Hill is A Living Heritage site
for the People of South Africa