Page 41 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

When a vacancy arose at the Advice Office in 1996, I excitedly joined the organisation as an administrator. After my induction and training, my first case was a woman who was unfairly dismissed. I called her employer and tried to educate him about the rights that his employee was entitled to. We ended up reaching an agreement that he would pay three months’ notice to the employee.
The family, who employed me as a domestic worker, later became my clients when they were caught up in a dispute over the estate of their father with their father’s brother. He was demanding assets of their father over their father’s wife and children. I called the family to mediate on the matter and they were told that the case will be referred to the High Court. They were so shocked to see me working at the Advice Office especially when they heard that I was going to handle their case. The case was eventually taken up by Lawyers for Human Rights who assisted me to prepare the case for the Mthatha High court. The case was eventually concluded successfully in their favour. This case highlighted the need for training in the Labour Relations Act and the Law of succession. The Advice Office board then approved that my colleague and I could undergo this training by The Rhodes University Law clinic (RULAc). This training made me think about how to fight the violation of the people’s constitutional rights. My big challenge was the need for more training as a paralegal to understand the basics of the law.
The people from Port st John’s experience injustice every day, as the government officials do not want to do their jobs. For example, people do not have access to health services because of shortages of nurses or doctors at the clinic. some of the people defaulted on their treatment and ended up going to private doctors, because the health facility is there but there are no services for the people. People are still victims of their employers and women experience abuse by their partners, families and communities. These challenges deeply affect me and make me determined to make a difference.
There are many ways we address these challenges. We engage with government departments and non-profit organisations and highlight all the issues that are in violation of the rights of the people. After these engagements we try to come up with possible solutions to address these issues and remind government officials about their mandate. sometimes we go to the communities to address some of the issues together, for example to educate people on how to access social grants. We explain to the community what should be done if they are treated badly by officials, accompanying our clients to government offices where they have been ill treated. We also fundraise for the organisation so that we can reach as many vulnerable groups of people as we can. scAT has been one of our oldest and most consistent donors.
even though my parents could not afford to pay for me to study to become a lawyer, I managed to learn about the law through my work at the Advice Office. I was able to further my education through Rhodes University Legal Aid clinic and Northwest University Legal Aid clinic as a professional paralegal.
I cannot stand and watch children who do not attend school because they do not have birth certificates. I cannot watch government officials not give medication to sick people. I cannot watch women break down because they cannot provide for their children because of their abusive husbands. That is why I do what I do as a trained paralegal.
Access to Justice
RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years
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