The enemies of South African democracy have the judiciary in their sights

THERE ARE few more poignant locations for a country’s supreme judicial body than that of South Africa’s Constitutional Court, in central Johannesburg. The building lies within the walls of the Old Fort prison complex where, during the colonial era and under apartheid, black inmates were given less food, fewer blankets and more abuse than white ones. Many who struggled against white rule were held there, including Mahatma Gandhi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (briefly), Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela. The last three all won the Nobel peace prize; not many countries can boast more individual laureates than the Old Fort complex can.