Johannesburg Heritage

Constitution Hill

This heritage precinct has South Africa’s Constitutional Court as the centerpiece. The court reflects the values of the new democracy and is acclaimed for its engaging design and welcoming spaces.

©Roger de la Harpe

There are more than 200 works of art in the court’s collection, all thematically linked to the constitution. The hill is also home to Johannesburg’s Old Fort Prison Complex where thousands were incarcerated before democracy, including Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Cradle of Humankind

©David Fleminger

This UNESCO World Heritage Site, less than 40 km northwest of Johannesburg, houses some of the most important evidence of humankind’s evolution. At Maropeng Visitor Center you can view astonishing fossils and million-year-old stone tools. The adjacent Sterkfontein Caves are where the pre-human skull known as ‘Mrs Ples’, and the almost complete hominid skeleton called ‘Little Foot’ (dated 2.3 and 4.17 million years old respectively) were discovered.

MuseuMAfricA

©Andile Bhala

Entrance to the MuseuMAfrica in Johannesburg.

Housed in what used to be Johannesburg’s main fruit-and-vegetable market, MuseuMAfricA (Museum Africa) is the city’s premier cultural-history museum. The modern interior comprises pillars driven into the clay soil to support several floors which don’t connect to the building’s original outer skin, constructed in 1913. The museum’s exhibits have been accumulated and preserved since 1933, when an impressive collection of Africana was bought from JC Gubbins by the Johannesburg public library. Today, most collections on show exhibit aspects of black traditional and contemporary culture.By Justin Fox