Page 39 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

port ST JohnS
ADVICE OFFICE
Port st Johns is a seaside town at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River situated on the dramatically beautiful Wild coast area of the eastern cape. The origin of the town’s name is derived from the Portuguese Sâo Joâo, after a ship which foundered or anchored there.1 Port st Johns is the main settlement in the Port st. Johns local municipality which forms part of the O.R. Tambo District Municipality in the former Transkei. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 6,441, of whom 90% are Xhosa-speaking.2 The main economic activities in the municipality are tourism, services, agriculture, trade and sandstone mining.3
The Port St Johns Advice Office is an established local development agency and one of the longest funded by scAT. It was initially established in 1992 by a group of women who were concerned about the many retrenchments of mineworkers who were not being allowed to access their employment benefits. The organisation has continued to work and focus on access to justice. They are also known for their flagship beekeeping project which supplies honey products to a local branch of one of south Africa’s leading supermarkets.
1. Raper, P. (1987). Dictionary of southern African Place Names (Vol. 46). https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2015.1113434
2. census 2011: Local Municipality: Port st Johns. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/
place/291
3. Port st Johns Local Municipality – Our Heritage, Our People. (2019 Retrieved september 242019, Port st Johns Local
Municipality - Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://municipalities.co.za/overview/1038/port-st-johns- local-municipality
FAsT facts
NaMe: Port St Johns Advice Office
LeD By: Nomboniso ebony Gaya
MaiN cHaLLeNGes faceD By tHe coMMuNity: registration of birth certificates, violations of workers’ rights, lack of service delivery by government departments MaiN actiVities: HIV/Aids awareness; human rights issues; economic empowerment for the youth; paralegal support
aDDress: 166 church street, Port st. Johns
coNtact: cell: 073 232 8852, Phone: 047 564 8276, cell: 082 507 2283
email: portstjohnslegaladvice@gmail.com, ebonygaya@gmail.com
Access to Justice
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