Welcome to Constitution Hill

There is perhaps no other site of incarceration in South Africa that imprisoned the sheer number of world-renowned men and women as those held within the walls of Constitution Hill’s Old Fort, Women's Jail and Number Four.

Nelson Mandela. Mahatma Gandhi. Joe Slovo. Albertina Sisulu. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Fatima Meer. They all served time here, but the precinct also confined tens of thousands of ordinary people during its 100-year history. They were men and women of all races, creeds, ages and political agendas; children too, the everyman and the elite. In this way, the history of every South African lives here.

Constitution Hill is a living museum that tells the story of South Africa’s journey to democracy. The site is a former prison and military fort that bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens.

Venue Hire

There is perhaps no area in Johannesburg that offers the variety of venues as those offered by Constitution Hill. Ours is a precinct premised on unusual spaces, from small former cells where bars yet remain on the windows, to large open areas with the capacity to accommodate hundreds of people.

Read more

Museums

Constitution Hill is a place of perspective. It enables us to memorialise the past, imagine the future, and understand our place in the present. It is not just a heritage site – or a museum in which heritage is housed – but a vantage point that grants a view across time and space.

Read more

Events

Constitution Hill is the physical nucleus of constitutionality in South Africa, the place where the country’s hard-won Constitution is celebrated, protected and expressed, every day. The events we host explore what the Constitution and its Bill of Rights mean in South Africa today, and how those meanings are interpreted through art, social justice, critical dialogue, the preservation of instructive history and the participatory guarantee of equal rights for all.

Read more

Join the Movement

Constitution Hill is where South Africa's Constitution is experienced, debated and defended. It is a place of active engagement with a constitution that is recognised as one of the world’s most progressive. We invite you to use this space to share your experiences with us.

Read more