Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill is the site of the notorious Old Fort Prison Complex (to the north of the centre). Opened in 2004, this is one of Johannesburg’s newest tourist attractions and, in a similar way to the Apartheid Museum, it uses multimedia tools to display its exhibits. Known as Number Four, the old prison, which only closed in the 1980s, was known for holding hundreds of blacks in appalling overcrowded conditions; most had been arrested for not carrying their pass books. Illustrious prisoners include Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and many of the leading anti-Apartheid activists. You can wander around the complex yourself or there are regular tours, which include a video about Mandela’s time here, a tour of the women’s gaol and a photo exhibition of ex-inmates and wardens. You can still see graffiti on the backs of the cell doors and the giant pots that prisoners ate simple porridge from. South Africa’s Constitutional Court has recently been built here and some of the bricks from the old prison were used in the new court to demonstrate the injustice of the past being used towards justice in the future. The site is seen as an important symbol of the changes that the country has witnessed since 1994, and it’s another of the city’s excellent contemporary museums.