Memory and Justice: www.memoryandjustice.org

Discussion of Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill is, in many ways, a model for what a multi-faceted memorial site can be. In supplanting a former political prison with the home base of a famously progressive constitution, the site honors the painful sacrifices of the past while serving as an active symbol of human rights and democracy for the future. In addition, the Constitution Hill project aspires to create jobs, promote tourism, instill civic pride, provide public space, employ environmentally sustainable architecture, and foster urban renewal within a blighted neighborhood.

Precisely because Constitution Hill is such an ambitious and complex site, it presents many special challenges. In a 2003 paper for South Africa’s Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Ereshnee Naidu noted several considerations that should be heeded if Constitution Hill is to succeed as a site of memory and justice. “To ensure that the voices collected represent the experiences of all those that have come in contact with the Fort,” Naidu wrote, “it is necessary that the national drive to collect stories engage with all South Africans. The process should represent the voices of 'ordinary' people who were incarcerated on the site, and not just the famous personalities, such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, who have been known to be imprisoned on the site.” Has Constitution Hill succeeded in telling the stories of ordinary South Africans? Naidu also notes that Constitution Hill has unique potential as a true site of reconciliation, given that such a wide range of people, both black and white, had been imprisoned there over the decades. Has Constitution Hill lived up to that potential?

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References

Merwe, Clinton David van der, and Zarina Patel. “Understandings of Urban Regeneration, Heritage and Environmental Justice at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg.” Urban Forum 16, no. 2/3 (April-September 2005): 244-258.

Naidu, Ereshnee. “A Case Study of Constitution Hill.” The Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2003.
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