It has a history almost as old as Johannesburg itself. For 100 years, it was a prison, a fort, and then a prison again, incarcerating men, women and even children for a variety of crimes. Today, it is known as Constitution Hill and, no longer a prison, has become one of South Africa’s richest and most historic tourist attractions.
In recent months, Flow Communications has had the privilege of revamping the Constitution Hill website and launching a brand-new app so that visitors can conduct self-guided tours around the precinct.
Constitution Hill is home to several museums: the Old Fort, which was built in 1893 and imprisoned white male prisoners; Number Four, which dates to 1902 and incarcerated black male prisoners; and the Women’s Jail, built in 1910 to confine both black and white female prisoners. The site also once housed an Awaiting Trial Block, where thousands of black people were detained while they waited to be tried for transgressing a range of apartheid laws. The prison complex closed its doors permanently in 1983 and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the site was revamped and all but four staircases of the Awaiting Trial Block were demolished to make way for the country’s first Constitutional Court, which is symbolically located in the heart of this former site of incarceration and which is open to the public.
Tackling a project such as this – one with such historic depth and emotional impact – was a meaningful process for the Flow team. We spent hours on site, learning about the stories and significance of every aspect of prison life: their mistreatment at the hands of warders, wardresses and gang members; the methods of torture and abuse to which they were victim; and the conditions in the cells to which they were confined, especially the isolation cells, the weight of which hangs heavy on the precinct.
We consulted experts on the complex, delved into the archives and interviewed former prisoners. The security guards started to greet us by name. Often, we would end our visits to the precinct with a walk along the Old Fort’s ramparts, taking a moment to appreciate how far this site has come: once an intimdating fortified presence in the young mining town of Johannesburg, now a testament to the horrors of South Africa’s past and the significance of our prevailing democracy.
The experience was harrowing, insightful and important, both professionally as well as personally.
The revamped website is now live and includes a number of features that make it both useful and user-friendly to visitors. All of the information required to tour the precinct is provided in the visit section, while the explore section offers an overview of the site’s museums and exhibitions, as well as the public programmes in place. Information on Constitution Hill’s venue hire options, its school programmes and regular events is also provided. The events calendar is likely to be particularly handy for those wanting to keep abreast of the many goings-on at Constitution Hill, with debates, dialogues and social events a regular occurrence.
The website also has a unique share your story function, which enables visitors to share their experiences of Constitution Hill by typing a message and uploading relevant documents, images and videos. Share yours today.
An app, which will enable visitors to conduct self-guided tours of Constitution Hill, will be released in early 2017. The app provides information on multiple points of interest in every museum, and has multimedia content that has been produced from the Constitution Hill archives – material not available anywhere else on the precinct. Listen to ex-prisoners speak about life in the Women’s Jail, and take a look at photographs of the Old Fort that date to the turn of the 20th century.
Our work with Constitution Hill is ongoing. We recently assisted with a large event and Twitter chat commemorating the 20th signing of the Constitution into law, using the hashtag #Constitution20. The discussion sparked rigorous debate about the state of constitutionalism in South Africa, how far it’s come and where it’s going.
If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to visit Constitution Hill in person. Before you do so, however, the website and app should give you an idea of what you can expect.
