The window of transparency.
Found in the courtroom behind the Justices’ desks and wrapping around the whole chamber, lies a narrow strip of window beaming between the old court bricks.
The Constitutional Court is open to the public and allows for tours at all times and it is through this strip of windows, that the feet of the public are visible and if one wishes, they can kneel down to view the happenings in the courtroom. The reason that only the feet of passer-bys can be seen is to symbolize equality, as by looking at ones’ shoes neither class, race or economic status can be easily determined, this shows that all individuals are equal in the eyes of the law. This angle can also be seen to illustrate the ideology that the court serves at the feet of the people of South Africa.
The aim of this window is to emphasize the movement away from authoritarian ideologies and towards transparency and equality within the South African judicial system, as seen in the use of bricks from the old Apartheid jail around this window. The symbol of an unclouded window can be seen as indicative of the ideology of transparency. This ideology is further perpetuated by the fact that the public possess the right to view courtroom proceedings, through this window, and be included in the law making processes, unlike the judicial system of Apartheid which marginalized many individuals within the legislative process.
This stretch of windows serves the symbolic function of reminding individuals of the democratic principles which govern both in the court and the country as a whole and the atrocities of the past, which the court seeks to remedy.