Constitution Hill offers the following:
- Number Four: The journey to Number Four, the dark heart of Constitution Hill deepens the visitor’s understanding of what it means to be placed at the bottom of the racial hierarchy and how the apartheid system made criminals of black men.
- The Mandela Cell: View a film documenting Mandela’s time at the Old Fort, and his emotional return to Constitution Hill some forty years later. The film is a poignant reminder of the man’s ability to inspire change in the political and moral structure of the entire society.
- The Women’s Jail: The grace of this handsome Victorian-style building belies the pain and suffering that occurred within. The hoarding, which protects the building, has been transformed into a temporary exhibition that honors the contribution of women to the struggle for freedom in South Africa.
- “We The People” wall: Running the length of Constitution Square, at the base of the Old Fort ramparts, contributors range from Nelson Mandela and other ex-prisoners to ordinary people across South Africa. Leave your message for the “We the People” wall.
- In the shade of the Constitution- This photographic exhibition is the result of the “We the People” road trip that travelled across South Africa’s nine provinces in 2003 from the urban areas to the isolated rural communities.
- Gandhi’s cell: In his biography, Gandhi described jail as a ‘palace’. He loved the ‘solitude’ and ‘peace’ of a prison as this gave him the ‘opportunity and time for meditation’. All in all, Gandhi spent some 2 338 days inside a jail cell in South Africa and India.
- Objects from the Past: A collection of prison objects and emblems that shed light on the system of punishment and incarceration in Apartheid South Africa.
- Guided Tours: A tour of the old prison buildings and the Constitutional Court is a journey through South Africa’s painful past, but also celebration of its remarkable transition to democracy.
For more details, visit www.constitutionhill.org.za or phone 011 381 3100.