Page 53 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

The office became a target by the security police. One day in 1987, when I arrived at the office, it was spray painted with words saying that my colleague Rory Riordon and I were instigators of the violence. Pamphlets were distributed all over Uitenhage claiming that I misused money that was meant for political prisoners and had to be dealt with. since that disinformation campaign did not work to their advantage, the security police were regular visitors to the Advice Office, trying to paint a picture that I was their informer. That did not work because the community trusted me.
The organisation played a critical role in the fight against the injustice of apartheid. International ambassadors came through the office to access the communities. During this time police built up many cases against me, but the prosecution failed.
By attending the scAT conference every end of year, which provided us with opportunities for networking and empowerment, we were able to come up with a strategic plan that resulted in us coming up with a vision to campaign for accessible government. We aimed to empower communities to use the constitution to access services from any government department, local or national, just after the first democratic election.
In 1999 scAT nominated and assisted me to apply for a scholarship to Denmark. On 10 January 2000 I went to Denmark, through Heathrow airport. I met Monica Tyalimpi and four other scAT grantees going to Denmark. Heathrow airport is big and we were lost and hungry as our south African currency was no match for the dollar. eventually we found the gate that was at the other side of the airport. We were bussed to it. spending 5 months in a foreign country with people from thirty-nine other countries was a challenge. students from Africa and Latin America were very close because they were the descendants of slaves abducted from Africa.
On my return the organisation had many challenges because of my absence as director. We decided to employ Vuyo Msizi as a programme manager. This was the beginning of Interchurch Local Development Agency (ILDA). Vuyo brought in the element of adult education. We balanced case work with capacity building. Working with Vuyo was beneficial to me. I was able to develop my skills as a trainer, facilitator and animator. I also learned more about organisational development. I was later offered a scholarship to study Training for Transformation in the Western cape. I am now a board member of this institution.
ILDA’s work has changed the lives of many people in Uitenhage and surrounding rural areas. ILDA participated in the Truth and Reconciliation commission. We took statements and helped identify the victims. We visited political prisoners, encouraged them to study and arranged for them to get bursaries through Red cross. The introduction of chapter 9 institutions made it easier to do our work, although some of them were not so effective at responding to cases. I have ten-year-old cases that have not been solved. For example, there is a case of a man who wanted assistance with his old age pension. The department of Health and Welfare kept on rejecting his application without giving him any reasons. When we investigated the case, we discovered that the man worked for the government and had more than R500 000.00 in pension funds owed to him. Another case involved a man from Parow in the Western cape. The farm owner told him that his missing sister was found in Port elizabeth, gave him a single train ticket and R40.00. When the man arrived in Uitenhage, he was brought to our office. It was later revealed that the man owned more than a thousand head of livestock and the white farmer wanted to steal them. Through ILDA’s intervention the man was able to retrieve all his livestock.
After thirty four years of existence, ILDA is still a vibrant organization. I am still the director and we are still funded by scAT. even though we have the best constitution in the world, people’s lives have not changed much. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This means that our work at Advice Offices is still needed in South Africa. scAT’s role as a funder and mentor to us is also vital for our existence.
Access to Justice
RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years
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