Page 34 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

Access to Justice
2. saving and credit group formation (scDs)
We encourage the community to form groups to save and borrow money, so that they stop using loan sharks where they pay huge interest. At scD, the interest is small. It is 10% of the money you borrowed or you have saved. People’s lives have changed a lot because of scD. some have bought furniture or cars, some have paid for their children’s school fees while others have bought livestock.
3. Gender based violence prevention
We teach people about abuse in homes, especially women and child abuse. We teach men not to abuse women. We found out that after our training a lot of women stand up for themselves. We have reports that those who come to us are no longer experiencing abuse. Also, protection orders are made by many to stop abuse in families or homes.
4. Labour laws for domestic and farm workers
We teach the community about laws and rights for farmworkers and domestic workers. We teach them about their employment rights - what they should get paid, employment contracts and basic conditions of employment. We are also teaching them about the new National Wage Act.
5. Human rights – children rights
We help people understand the constitution’s bill of rights and how it affects them. There are many children who do not have birth certificates. These children face struggles at school. They do not get food or books because they are told they are not citizens. When they do grade 12 they cannot write their final examination. We work with other social justice organisations to campaign for government to change policies that supress children rights. We remind government that the bill of rights states that every child has a right to a nationality, to a name and to education.
6. food security programme
We are also fighting against malnutrition. We encourage our community to plant vegetables in their homes so that they don’t need to buy cabbages, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. There are no jobs, there is no money to buy such things but if they grow their own vegetables and they have a surplus, they can sell it. We encourage the community to start farming co-operatives and sell what they grow so that they can create job opportunities where they stay.
7. Paralegal or case work
At siyanakekela we help people with different legal problems. We helped a miner to get R150 000.00 compensation from a mine where he became ill from silicosis. This man built a house for his family, bought livestock and paid for his child’s tertiary education. After some time he passed away, but his family is proud of scD because he passed away after building them a house, ensuring they have a place to stay now.
Part of my job description as a coordinator at scD is to raise funds from donors. In 2016 we asked for help from SCAT. SCAT gave us R30 000.00 for three months towards the end of that year, but during the following year the donation increased to R111 000.00. The money from scAT, together with FRIs, DFT (fundraising incentive scheme and development fund and training) helps us a lot at scD. It is through scAT’s support that we were able to put a fence around our office. This gave our office dignity, because before that animals and people used to roam around without anything to stop them.
My parents may not have been able to afford to send me to university to study to become a lawyer, but through my work at siyanakekela, I open the doors of justice, human rights and development to my community of Matatiele ever day.
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RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years