Constitution Hill

Imagine being thrown into prison for not having a ‘pass’ that allows you to go to work?  Imagine a small jail cell, inhabited by 60 other inmate, with one toilet. The only time outside is for ‘role call’ for the guards to learn if any prisoners have escaped or died over night. Now imagine that you could be strip searched at any time.

While blacks lived in such squalid conditions, white prisoners slept 4 to a cell. They ate better food. They were given office jobs as labour.

These were the conditions of black prisoners on Constitution Hill.

The new Constitutional court sits beside the old jail. Made partly of bricks from the original jail, it seeks to bring a fair and just resolution to criminal cases now in South Africa. Made up of 11 justices from varying walks of life, the court serves as both a reminder of the injustices of the past and hope for a future to come.