A notorious prison complex turned home of the Constitutional Court. The cells held Mandela and Gandhi, and the country's highest court for rights now sits on the same ground. The whole South African story in one place.
Constitution Hill is the rare place that holds both South Africa’s worst history and its best idea. For about a hundred years this was a prison, and one of the most feared in the country. Today the same ground is home to the Constitutional Court, the highest court for rights in the land, and you walk from one to the other on a single visit.
The prison complex is the first half. The Old Fort, the brutal Number Four section for black male prisoners, the Women’s Jail and the Awaiting Trial Block held Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, alongside tens of thousands of ordinary people, many locked up simply for breaking the pass laws. A guide walks you through the cells, the isolation blocks and the courtyards, and the stories that go with them.
The second half is the answer to the first. On the site of the demolished Awaiting Trial Block, built partly from its own bricks, stands the Constitutional Court, with its chamber, its art collection and the Flame of Democracy. Putting the country’s highest court for human rights on the ground of an apartheid prison is the whole point. It sits in central Johannesburg between Braamfontein and Hillbrow, an easy Uber from the northern suburbs, and it pairs naturally with the Apartheid Museum, which lays out the system the court was built to undo.
A guided tour of the old prisons, then the court built on top of them. One to two hours.
The guided route runs through the prison complex that ran here for a century. The Old Fort, the harsh Number Four section for black male prisoners, the Women's Jail and the Awaiting Trial Block held Gandhi and Mandela, and tens of thousands of ordinary people, many jailed under the pass laws.
On the site of the demolished Awaiting Trial Block, built partly from its bricks, stands South Africa's highest court for rights. The chamber, the art collection and the Flame of Democracy turn the prison's ground into a statement about the country it became. The contrast is the point of the place.
The site only opens up with a guide. The one-hour Highlights tour covers the essentials; the two-hour full tour adds the court and more of the prisons.
Online tickets carry a small discount, and the precinct is cashless. Booking ahead also locks in your tour time.
The two complete each other: the museum lays out the system, Constitution Hill shows where it was enforced and then answered.
This is central Johannesburg, so don't plan to walk here. Take an Uber, or the City Sightseeing red bus, which stops at the gate and earns a tour discount.
The Constitutional Court holds one of the country's most important art collections, woven through the building. Leave time for it on the full tour.
The court still hears cases, and the precinct runs markets and exhibitions. Check what's on, as it can add to or limit access on the day.
Reach the site and the wider history through our trusted partners, at the same price as booking direct.
The City Sightseeing red bus stops at Constitution Hill and earns a discount on the tour, an easy way to reach it.
Book on GetYourGuide →A guided walk through the inner city around Constitution Hill, including the famous Ponte City tower.
See inner-city tours →A full guided day through the wider history, from the Apartheid Museum to Soweto and Vilakazi Street.
See history tours →Hotels in Sandton and Rosebank, the safe northern suburbs most visitors use as a base.
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Constitution Hill holds South Africa's past and its promise in one place. See the rest of what the city holds.
