Wooden Doors

The wooden entrance doors to the Constitutional Court depict the 27 fundamental human rights listed in chapter two of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, using South Africa’s 11 official languages and also incorporating sign language. The door handle, cast in bronze, features braille writing commemorating the opening of the Constitutional Court in 2004, as reflected on the text plate. Andrew Verster was awarded the commission for the front doors and approached Andries Botha to help him realise the project, alongside a group of carvers from KwaZulu-Natal. The names of all of those involved were engraved onto the wooden panels, acknowledging their contributions. The collaborative effort of making these doors – speaking to diversity, inclusivity and accessibility – can be compared to South Africa’s constitutional project: Verster likened the production process to the making of a Gothic cathedral “where, though thousands of hands did the work, the whole had a unity.”