Join Jo on a relaxed tour through one of Johannesburg’s most impressive historic sites, the Constitution Hill Precinct. It has developed from its beginnings as a prison and fort in early Johannesburg, to its present-day role as home of South Africa’s Constitutional Court. The tour will focus on the “non-white” Number Four prison, its history, famous inmates, restoration and remarkable and important collection of historic political graffiti. Using a select few examples of graffiti, we will examine their meaning, purpose and role as important historic artefacts.
Jo Buitendach studied archaeology at the University of Witwatersrand where in her honours year in 2008 she won the 'Van Riet Lowe Top Student Award'. Jo then trained as a tour guide and started Past Experiences, a tour operator that focuses on Johannesburg Inner City Walking tours. Last year, Jo graduated with a Master’s from the University of Cape Town's faculty of Architecture and Planning in "Conservation of the Built Environment". The topic of her thesis was the "Heritage Value of Graffiti, with a focus on the historic graffiti at Constitution Hill’s Number Four Prison". In October 2015 Jo was featured in the Guardian Newspapers “10 Of the World’s Best Tour Guides” feature. She is hugely passionate about the Johannesburg CBD, graffiti, its communities, culture, buildings and history.