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Like an ancient temple adorning over the city it governs, the Union Buildings are a modern day acropolis, built at the highest point of South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria. It forms the official seat of South Africa’s government and houses the Presidency.

Designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1908, building began in 1909 and was completed in 1913. It took approximately 1 265 artisans, workmen and labourers almost three years to construct, using 14 million bricks for the interior office walls, half a million cubic feet of freestone, 74 000 cubic yards of concrete, 40 000 bags of cement and 20 000 cubic feet of granite. The buildings represent a decadent layer of South Africa’s history. Originally built to house the entire Public Service of the Union of South Africa, it was then the largest building in the country and possibly the largest building work undertaken in the southern hemisphere at that time. Several other sites were considered, however, Herbert Baker was strongly in favour of Meintjieskop, which was within a mile of the centre of Pretoria and reminded him strongly of some of the acropolises of Greece and Asia Minor, where he had studied Mediterranean architecture. The concept of an acropolis and a building that agreed with renowned British architect, Sir Christopher Wren’s, theory that a public building should be a national ornament which establishes a nation, draws people and commerce and makes people love their country, easily persuaded the then powers that be, who were, at the time, preoccupied with the ideal of establishing a new and united nation. The British High Commissioner at the time, Lord Selborne, remarked, “People will come from all over the world to wonder at the beauty of the site and to admire the forethought and courage of the men who selected it”. The design of the buildings was largely determined by the nature of the site. Baker envisaged identical wings of rectangular office blocks, each representing one of the two official languages. They were to be linked by a semi-circular wing, and the space in between the two wings, was levelled to form an amphitheatre, as in the Greek fashion, for gatherings of national and ceremonial importance. Baker wanted the buildings to be built of imported granite, but any idea of using anything but South African stone for the most important government building of the new state, was unthinkable to those who commissioned it. As a result, the terraces and retaining walls in the grounds are built predominantly of mountain stone quarried on site. The foundation of the building is of granite, while freestone was used for the exterior walls, the amphitheatre and major courtyards. For the overall design of the building, Baker chose the neo-classic architecture of the Italian Renaissance and also combined an idiom of the English Renaissance, as well as significant elements of Cape Dutch detail, such as in the carved main doorways and fanlights and in much of the wrought-iron brass work and balustrades of the smaller areas.

On 9 August 1956, 20 000 women marched to the doors of the Union Buildings, chanting “Wathint’ Abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo!” which means “strike the women, strike the rock”, to protest against the pass laws of 1950. This historical event is today commemorated by the public holiday National Women’s Day. Wilma Cruise and Marcus Holmes were approached to design a memorial to commemorate the Women’s March. They made use of the “imbokodo”. The imbokodo is a grinding stone used by the women to grind maize. Cruise and Holmes, rested the imbokodo, representing nurture and sustenance, on bronze plates, representing the earth and fire. There are two sets of stairs leading to the memorial and on each step, raised in bronzed letters, are the words from ‘The Demand of the Women of South Africa for the Withdrawal of Passes for Women and Repeal of the Pass Laws.’ On approaching the imbokodo, you will trigger infrared beams, which activates history’s “whispered voices”, echoed in all 11 official languages, the rally cry, repeated softly.

On 10 May 1994, the buildings and grounds were the scene of much jubilation as they played host to the inauguration of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically-elected president after the end of apartheid, heralding the beginning of a new era in South Africa’s history. Part of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address: “Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to new-born liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud. Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all. All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today. We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! Let us make this dream come true. Collectively we can do it, a white government tried and failed, a black government tried and failed. Let us as a rainbow nation keep this in focus and move forward!” On 5 December 2013, Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa elected in a fully representative democratic election, died at the age of 95 after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. He died at around 20:50 local time (UTC+2) at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, surrounded by his family. His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma. Reactions from governments, international organisations and notable individuals, gained worldwide media coverage. South Africa observed a national mourning period of ten days. During this time his body lay in state at the Union Buildings from 11 to 13 December 2013 and approximately 100 000 mourners viewed Mandela’s body over the three days. The crowds grew larger each day and thousands who queued on the final day could not be accommodated and were turned away. Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, remained with his grandfather’s body for all three days, in accordance with AbaThembu tradition, which requires an adult male family member to remain with the body until burial. A 9-metre high bronze statue of Mandela stands in the grounds of the Union Buildings. An interesting statement is that because of the significance of the Voortrekker Monument and the Union Buildings in the national consciousness, a law in Pretoria limited/s the height of any building between the Voortrekker Monument and the Union Buildings such that the view between them remains unobstructed.