Constellations

This artwork depicts a “constellation” of 18 interconnected figures who worked at the Constitutional Court. Judges, administrators, security, cleaning staff and an art curator are included, amongst others. Though some of these people may have more prominent positions in society than others, one can never fully measure the impact of a single, ordinary life on others, when working together.

Batho Pele (Sotho for “People First”) expresses a commitment to deliver public services to all citizens [...] Batho Pele gives practical expression to the constitutional value of ubuntu which embraces the relational nature of rights [...] Courts must move beyond the common law conception of rights as strict boundaries of individual entitlement. - Justice Thembile Skweyiya, in Joseph v City of Johannesburg (2010)