In 1893 a high-security prison was built on the Braamfontein ridge in Johannesburg. A few years later, the building of a series of forts around it strengthened the establishment and gave it military capacity. That site became a landmark. It was known in some circles as the Johannesburg Fort and in others as Number Four, the name given to the frightening section in which black men were jailed.
The complex housed three notorious prisons:
- the Fort, where white inmates were kept;
- Section Four and Section Five, the “natives’ jail”, built in 1902; and
- the women’s jail, added in 1909.
Hundreds of thousands of people were jailed there – including famous figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Luthuli. Nelson Mandela paid the Fort a visit first as a young lawyer, then as a prisoner and finally as the president of South Africa.
The prison was closed in 1983, leaving a scar on Johannesburg’s metropolis – a bleak reminder of our painful past. It is unusual for a court to be built on the site of a prison, yet the Constitutional Court’s judges deliberately chose the Old Fort – for the very reason of its history.
This historically rich site – where densely populated and frenetic Hillbrow meets leafy and affluent Parktown and bureaucratic Braamfontein – is now Constitution Hill, the home of South Africa’s highest court.
The Constitutional Court was designed to reflect the values of our new constitutional democracy.
The building is noted for its transparency and entrancing volumes. In contrast to most courts, it is welcoming rather than forbidding, filled with sparkle and warmth. It has no marble cladding or wood panelling, but has come to be admired for its graceful proportions. And the principal materials – timber, concrete, steel, glass and black slate – infuse the court with an African feel.
The foyer of the Court is a spacious, light-filled area punctuated by slanting columns, an architectural metaphor for trees under which African villagers traditionally resolved their legal disputes. On the columns are mosaics – blue, green, orange and red. In keeping with this metaphor, the concrete roof has slots designed to create moving areas akin to dappled sunlight filtering through leaves.
The roof’s concrete beams are inscribed with the words ”human dignity, equality and freedom” in samples of the handwriting of each of the judges incumbent during the building of the court.
The foyer includes a curved wall containing 512 stained-glass windows. The timber door to the foyer, a 9m-high work of art, features plaques carved with words and sign-language symbols conveying the 27 rights enshrined in the Constitution.
The court chamber is more austere and has a low-lying ribbon of glass that emphasises the transparency of its proceedings.
The building has two layers: the outer one consists of the foyer, the court chamber, an auditorium and an exhibition space that opens out on to the Great African Steps. The next layer consists of the administration section, the judges’ conference and meeting rooms, and, right in the middle of the building, 14 judges’ chambers – 11 for the Constitutional Court judges and three for visiting ones.
The judges’ chambers are on three storeys and have open spaces and ponds at ground level. They offer easy access to the court and to the library, in the northern wing of the building.
The foyer opens on to Constitution Square – the precinct’s open-air hub. The court chamber itself and Constitution Square have been constructed on the site of the awaiting-trial block, which was built in 1928 and demolished to make way for the Court. The architects have commemorated this important building by keeping four of its central stairwells and by using its bricks in the walls of the chamber.
Running the length of Constitution Square, the “We the People” wall displays the opinions and impressions of visitors to Constitution Hill. Contributors to the wall include former president Nelson Mandela and other ex-prisoners.
The Great African Steps lead from Constitution Square to the ramparts of the Old Fort and Number Four Prison. The steps divide the old stone wall of Number Four and the Court’s glass frontage – a walkway between the past and the future.
The three main prison buildings of the Old Fort remain. The court itself is on the east side of the site; there are sports facilities below. In the northwest corner, the defunct Queen Victoria Hospital is already being used as residential space.
Further west, off Constitution Square, is space for a coffee shop, bookshops and a tourist office. Other organisations will find a home here too, such as those bodies established in terms of Chapter 9 of the Constitution to foster our constitutional democracy.
The Court’s permanent home was inaugurated by President Thabo Mbeki on Human Rights Day in 2004 – part of the celebration of 10 years of democracy.
Address: Constitution Hill, 1 Hospital St, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017
The first South African to win an Olympic swimming gold medal (Penny Heyns): July 21, 1996 – Heyns won two gold medals in Atlanta, a major individual sporting triumph.
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