We the People Commemorated

With a past as turbulent as South Africa has experienced, it comes as no surprise that many of the country’s top tourist drawcards are those that delve into that history, making sure that the struggles and sacrifices of many in their fight for freedom are never forgotten.


	The beautifully restored entrance

Of all these extraordinary venues – from the Apartheid Museum and Freedom Park in the Gauteng province to the world-famous Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town – it is Johannesburg’s Constitution Hill that stands apart as both a monument to the injustices of the past as well as a beacon of hope for the future.

Jo’burg’s Robben Island

Jokingly referred to, on occasion, as the “Robben Island” of Johannesburg because of the site’s history as a detention centre for those who fought against apartheid, Constitution Hill is both a sobering and uplifting experience.

Nowhere is the story of South Africa’s stormy past and its astonishing transition to democracy better told. This national heritage site has witnessed more than a century of South African history, from the Anglo-Boer War at the turn of the last century right up to the dawn of freedom and the building of the country’s new Constitutional Court, right next door to the infamous Old Fort Prison that housed more than its fair share of renowned freedom fighters.

It seems fitting that the country’s Constitutional Court, the highest legal authority in the land, tasked with ensuring that South Africa’s visionary constitution is upheld by all, should sit alongside one of its most notorious prisons - where awaiting trial prisoners, many of them guilty of nothing more than desiring freedom in their own country, were held.

From Churchill to Mandela

To chart the history of the Old Fort Prison complex, now brilliantly restored as a national museum complete with interactive exhibits, is to broadly map the history of resistance politics in South Africa.

At the height of apartheid rule, upwards of 2 000 black South Africans were processed through the prison daily, and struggle stalwarts such as Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli and Robert Sobukwe spent many cold, lonely hours in the bare cells.

The walls of the prison have played host to many a famous name and aside from the struggle heroes mentioned above, others to have seen the inside of the prison include a young Winston Churchill, Mahatma Ghandi and, on a completely different note, Daisy de Melker, one of South Africa’s most notorious serial killers.

We the People

Adding immeasurably to the excellence of this heritage site is the public participation programme that encourages both the public at large, as well as former warders and prisoners, to participate in the creation of this work in progress.

Research workshops featuring ex-warders and prisoners have resulted in recordings that recreate the tenor of prison life, adding a much-needed human element to the Hill’s various exhibitions. It is a hard heart indeed that walks away from the Hill unaffected.

The most moving of these exhibitions has to be the documentary film detailing the time Nelson Mandela spent in these cells, as well as his emotional and triumphant return as a free man some 40 years after he was first incarcerated.

A close second, and an astonishing example of the South African miracle, is the We the People Wall. Running the length of Constitution Square, the wall is where those who visit the Hill can leave their message of hope for South Africa’s future. Contributors to the wall include Nelson Mandela and other former prisoners, along with a variety of ordinary South Africans.

An Aesthetic Retreat

Though renowned as a heritage site above all else, the Constitution Hill precinct is also an art lover’s haven, boasting some of the finest architecture in the country – both historic and contemporary - along with magnificent art and photographic collections celebrating the abundant creative talent in South Africa.

Of particular interest is the “In the Shade of the Constitution” photographic exhibition, a vivid collection of images from all 9 provinces that celebrates the colourful diversity of the Rainbow Nation.

Painful yet Inspirational

We the People Wall at Constitution Hill

Though a walk through Constitution Hill – either as part of the daily guided tours or following one’s own route through the many buildings and exhibits – is a painful experience, it is also an inspirational journey celebrating the indomitability of the human spirit.

The power and impact of the experience is perhaps best encapsulated by a quote from Nelson Mandela, inscribed on the roof of a passage in the Old Fort Prison: “no-one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails”.

To visit Constitution Hill is to understand just how much was sacrificed for freedom, and how remarkable that freedom is.

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