CONSTITUTION HILL

Constitution Hill is also the site of Johannesburg?s notorious Old Fort Prison Complex, commonly known as Number Four, where thousands of ordinary people were brutally punished before the dawn of democracy in 1994. Many of South Africa?s leading political activists, including Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, were detained.

Constitution Hill is the 492-million rand urban regeneration development funded by The Gauteng Provincial Government?s Blue IQ Initiative, City of Johannesburg, the Department of Justice and other philanthropic organisations and delivered by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA). With the move of the Constitutional Court to the prison site, what was once a place of injustice and brutality has become a place of solidarity and democracy for South Africa. Situated on a hill overlooking the bustling Johannesburg inner city to the south and the forested suburbs to the north, the site provides a unique perspective on the City of Gold and its dramatic history.

Constitution Hill features tours, and exhibitions that celebrate South Africa?s journey from its struggle against apartheid to the adoption of one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Although parts of Constitution Hill are still being renovated, it is open to the public so that we can all take part in its growth.

Constitution Hill has been designed as an interactive experience, where visitor participation is encouraged; and responses and interactions become part of the heritage site. In this way, Constitution Hill is a precinct with truly living museums. Constitution Hill is open to the public and tourists since 22 March 2004. 

EXPERIENCE HISTORY AT CONSTITUTION HILL
There are a variety of exhibitions and features to visit at Constitution Hill.

Constitution Square

At the heart of Constitution Hill is Constitution Square, a large outdoor piazza in
which people meet, talk, relax and enjoy a snack or a meal. Two stairwells of the
Awaiting Trial Block have been retained in its centre, a reminder of how the past
exists in the present. Stand outside one of the stairwells and listen to the songs of resistance recreated using the voices of those who took part in the Defiance
Campaign of the 1970s

Also on Constitution Square is the We the People wall. Read messages written by others on the wall, and leave your own: a record of what democracy means. We the People is Constitution Hill?s signature public participation programme that aims to transform Constitution Hill from a place of pain and suffering into a place where freedoms are protected and the values of the Constitution are upheld. We the People offers all visitors to the site the opportunity to participate in the building of Constitution Hill, and to set down their own memories for future visitors to see. In the year before Constitution Hill opened We The People visited all of South Africa?s nine provinces and interviewed hundreds of people, recording their thoughts and memories and their hopes and dreams about South Africa and its transition to democracy. This remarkable collection captures South Africa?s extraordinary diversity and forms the basis of the We the People exhibitions at Constitution Hill.

?We, the people of South Africa ? adopt this Constitution as the
supreme law of the land ??
Preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

The Old Fort
The ramparts of the Old Fort were built by Paul Kruger around the existing prison, from 1896 to 1899, to protect the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR) from the threat of British invasion, and to keep watch over the miners flocking to find gold in the village below. Reverting to a jail after the South African War, the Old Fort held white prisoners. One notable exception was Nelson Mandela, who was given a bed in the hospital section on his arrest in 1962.

Today you can visit the Mandela Cell exhibition that documents Mandela?s time at the Old Fort and, with the help of guided tours, you can unearth the stories behind the musty cells and peeling courtyards of Johannesburg?s most intriguing building.