By Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele
The KwaZulu-Natal Law Society (KZNLS), in partnership with Probono.Org and Legal Aid South Africa, has launched a pilot project to administer helpdesks stationed at the Pietermaritzburg and Durban High Courts. The project was launched on 10 April at the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
The project is the brainchild of Deputy Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Division of the High Court, Justice Isaac Madondo.
According to the KZNLS, legal assistance will be provided to unrepresented litigants specifically in the areas of evictions, family matters and estates, as well as foreclosures, subject to the applicants qualifying for pro bono assistance in terms of the KZNLS’s ‘means test’.
‘The helpdesks will operate within the courts from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm daily and will be manned by administration staff together with practitioners who will be available to provide the necessary legal assistance pro bono and on a roster basis,’ the KZNLS stated in a press release.
The KZNLS has encouraged attorneys and advocates to volunteer to be on the roster for a daily session (9:00 am to 12:00 pm) and also to volunteer the services of their candidate attorneys or pupils to assist them.
If you would like to volunteer your services, contact the KZNLS pro bono assistant, Michelle Naidoo, at (033) 345 1304 or e-mail: michelle@lawsoc.co.za.
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, Communications Officer, Law Society of South Africa, nomfundom@lssa.org.za
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2017 (May) DR 21.