Directory of Paralegal Advice Offices in South Africa KNOW YOUR RIGHTS MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU
Directory of Paralegal Advice Offices in South Africa KNOW YOUR RIGHTS MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU JULY 2004
Acknowledgements This Directory of Paralegal Advice Offices in South Africa was compiled by Connie Mpokotho and Elizabeth Myburgh (Children s Institute, University of Cape Town), with the assistance and support of paralegal advice offices around the country. These paralegal offices tirelessly provide invaluable advice to millions of people in South Africa who are struggling to access their rights. Thank you to Charmaine Smith for editing this publication, Jo-Anne Friedlander for the design work, and Solange Rosa for managing the development and production of the directory. The financial support of our funders, Open Society Foundation, is greatly appreciated. Their funding has enabled us to produce this resource and distribute it widely. Disclaimer While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this directory, the Children's Institute, University of Cape Town, makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy, reliability, completeness or currency of this information, or about the quality of service provided by any of the organisations listed in the directory. The Children's Institute, University of Cape Town accepts no liability or responsibility for damages or loss arising from the use of the directory and/or its contents. This report was produced by the Child Rights Programme of the Children s Institute, University of Cape Town. For information regarding this publication, please contact: Child Rights Programme, Children s Institute, University of Cape Town Programme Administrator: Elizabeth Myburgh Project Officer: Connie Mpokotho Senior Researcher: Solange Rosa Programme Manager: Paula Proudlock Address: 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, 7700 Telephone: 021 689 5404 Facsimile: 021 689 8330 E-mail: emyburgh@rmh.uct.ac.za ISBN: 0-7992-2265-8 2004 Children s Institute, University of Cape Town Design & typesetting: User Friendly Printed & bound by RSA Litho, Stewart Street, Goodwood, Cape Town
Contents Foreword Provincial Advice Office Listings: Eastern Cape 1 Free State 11 Gauteng 13 KwaZulu-Natal 17 Limpopo 23 Mpumalanga 29 Northern Cape 33 North West 37 Western Cape 41
Foreword The idea to produce this directory came about when the Child Rights Programme of the Children s Institute was undertaking a project to monitor the extension of the Child Support Grant to all children under the age of 14. At the time, a number of caregivers called the Project Officer, Connie Mpokotho, for help in accessing the Child Support Grant for the children in their care. She began to refer them to paralegal advice offices in the areas in which they lived. These paralegal advice offices play a very important role in assisting children and their families to understand and access their rights. They help to make rights real. We therefore decided to publish a directory of paralegal organisations in all nine provinces in South Africa. It has been widely distributed to make the information available to as many people as possible. We hope this will enable people to access paralegal advice offices to get assistance to realise their rights, in particular the rights of children and their families. We have taken great care to check that all the contact details of the advice offices are accurate at the time of going to print, but we cannot guarantee that they will remain so. Furthermore, we have listed under each advice office the type of advice they provide. These include: Abuse of women Child abuse Children s rights Consumer rights Domestic violence Farm evictions Farm workers rights HIV/AIDS Housing rights Justice Labour rights Land rights Maintenance Social grants Social security These are very broad categories and we therefore encourage people who are in need of assistance or advice to contact their nearest advice office even if your issue does not appear to fall under the listed categories to find out if they can help you. Solange Rosa Children s Institute July 2004