June 30, 2005
By Lucille Davie
JOHANNESBURG'S newest and trendiest function venue, which happens to be the site of the country's Constitutional Court, is Constitution Hill.
The site was previously the place where people were brought to spend time in the Old Fort, the awaiting-trial jail, the notorious No 4 jail, or the Women's Jail, for minor offences like failure to carry their passbooks.
The Old Fort, built in 1899 by President Paul Kruger, was originally a fortification against the uitlanders who, thought Kruger, were threatening his Transvaal republic.
Cannons were placed on the southern ramparts, facing the town. It surrounded earlier prison buildings built on the site in 1893, to house white prisoners.
After the South African War ended in 1902, the fort, which was never used as a fort, reverted to its original function as a jail, incarcerating hardened criminals and striking white mineworkers in 1907, 1913 and 1922.
No 4, just north of the Old Fort, was built about 1893, to house black prisoners. Many anti-apartheid activists, among them Mahatma Gandhi, Nobel Peace Prize winner Chief Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela, spent time within its depressing walls.
This prison remains largely intact - barbed wire across its iron roof, a hard, tarred courtyard surrounded by a square of imposing cells, with high barred windows, where men used to sleep on the floor, elbows touching. Open toilets in the courtyard finish the look, a reminder that nothing is private in prison.
The Women's Jail, built in 1910, has held political prisoners like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Albertina Sisulu. Criminals, such as notorious murderer Daisy de Melker, also spent time in its cells.
The Old Fort and No 4 finally were closed in 1982.
Some of Joburg's top architects were assigned the job of converting these spaces into the Constitutional Court, leaving the Old Fort and No 4 intact as a reminder of the city's past.
The heritage of the site has been respected, but some demolition has been necessary: the awaiting trial building has been largely demolished - four two-storey stairwells remain in a horizontal line spaced 30 metres apart - to make way for the Constitutional Court.
On the eastern side of the site the magnificent court has risen, using the bricks from the awaiting trial building. It is very much a people place, combining a lively art gallery in its spacious, textured public areas with artistic touches like mosaic, slanted pillars in the foyer. When the afternoon sun streams in, these capture a forest feel.
It is a joyous place. People can feel at home with recognised indigenous artefacts like fish traps, tapestries with familiar symbols, or wire lights, some of the 200 artworks that form part of the court's collection.
Tours are available, of the Constitutional Court, No 4 and the Old Fort. The one-and-a-half hour tour leaves throughout the day, any day of the week, between 9am and 4pm. Some 10 000 visitors a month are learning the history of the site.
The Old Fort is a prime venue for talks, seminars workshops, exhibitions, cocktail parties and legotlas. It offers enclosed courtyards, with high cell walls, finished in a genuine rough, distressed look. When filled with tables and subtle lighting, it makes an attractive venue.
There are a range of venues at the fort: a conference room that can accommodate 30 people at a table or 70 in rows; the fort atrium, a double-volume space that accommodates 60 people standing; the Slovo courtyard that can seat 100 for a banquet, or 350 standing; the Old Fort Courtyard, with a view of the skyscrapers of Hillbrow that accommodates 130 people; the Mandela Courtyard, which accommodates 130 people standing; and the Old Fort Parade Ground, a large square framed by the ramparts and accommodating 1 000 people standing.
Immediately outside the Constitutional Court is Constitution Square, a piazza suitable for large public events that can accommodate 1 000 people standing, or 380 for a banquet.
The Old Fort Coffee Shop, on the edge of the parade ground, is open seven days a week, from 7.30am to 7pm. It seats 30, and is available for functions.
Relaxing at the Old Fort Coffee Shop
It contains a Children's Room where kids can learn about their rights and responsibilities in a fun way through puppet shows, storytelling, arts and crafts, and drama workshops. The programme runs throughout the year.
The room has a tree of justice, with hooks on its trunk and branches to accommodate the children's creations, reached via miniature stairways.
The Constitution Hill precinct is on the corner of Kotze and Hospital streets, in Braamfontein. Exhibitions are open from 9am to 5pm seven days a week and on public holidays, except on Christmas Day and Good Friday.
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