Defender of the Poor and Marginalised

Since 1979 the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has played a pivotal role in the realisation of human rights, by providing free legal services to poor and marginalised communities and individuals, who often lack the protection of the law.

The LRC is a law clinic that uses the law to pursue justice, democracy and the realisation of socio-economic rights in South Africa, through the promotion of public interest law.

The law clinic has been promoting public interest law in South Africa for 28 years and more so since 1994, when South Africa became a democratic state, whereupon the clinic intensified its work for the development of a fully democratic South Africa based on the principle of substantive equality.

In her 2006 message featured in the LRC Annual Report, Janet Love, LRC National Director, emphasises that, “Our objective is to enable the rights of all South Africans to be realised and to have disputes settled before the courts under our democratic constitutional dispensation.”

A Leader with Entrenched Roots in the Struggle
Janet Love, joined the LRC as National Director in 2006. Although she is the first non-lawyer to be appointed to this position within the organisation, Love’s professional and personal history more than make up for this. 

Love has been actively involved in South Africa’s political agenda since 1976, when she joined the African National Congress (ANC) and was exiled two years thereafter for her political involvement.

Since 1987, when she came back into the country, under an assumed identity, Love has worked to develop a democratic state that acknowledges the human rights of all its citizens. In the same vein, in the year 1991, Love was involved in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) process. In 1994 and 1999 she was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP), while in parliament she was actively involved in the constitutional drafting process.

In light of her background within the struggle and her strong views about democracy, Love argues that, “We (in South Africa) still need to deal with the question of inequality and poverty.” She maintains that in order to deal with these issues, South Africa must redress the legacy of Apartheid.

Love appraises SA’s key development challenges within the context of the country’s democratic transition. She asserts that, “We are a society to some extent in mourning as a result of HIV/AIDS…and the violence and confusion that goes with transition.” In her view, South Africa is currently facing an increase in violence against women and children. The increase in the amount of children without a parent to look up to, ultimately leads to the break down of society’s moral fibre.

She also identifies the legal system itself needs to deal with a number of challenges. Love argues that access to justice underpins democracy and development. Appropriate processes to deal with the most vulnerable in our society – such as children – need to be implemented.

Advocating for the Rights of the Poor
The LRC’s mission is to promote human rights in all spheres of society by advocating for the human security of the marginalised and vulnerable.

This mission is achieved by the organisation’s work in the legal system. Although the implementation of the rights in our Constitution needs to be progressively achieved, the Courts have made it clear that there is an expectation and requirement for the state to play a transformational role and to pay primary attention to the most vulnerable. To better explain the significance of this, Love equates the spatial construct of the Apartheid era to current removals of the inner city’s poor to the outskirts of town prior to exploring rental and other upgrading options that would not involve their displacement. She highlights this very issue as being one of the challenges that the organisation has to contend with within this year.

Although, the organisation provides these services to South Africa’s poor, LRC seeks to identify those cases that will also benefit of a wider community. According to Love, for LRC to pursue this objective, “The cases often require a constitutional ruling.” In so doing the law clinic hopes to make a greater contribution to transformation and development.

Rising to the Challenge
Although the law clinic is based in South Africa with branches in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Grahamstown, LRC aims to enhance their work within the country by learning from their regional counterparts. Love anticipates LRC’s involvement within the region will assist to, “shape the continent’s understanding of human rights development.”

In the quest for the establishment of human rights footprint within the region, the LRC is a member of a network of organisations within the SADC region that advocates for the rights of the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised.

Ultimately, LRC strives to defend, promote and consolidate a strong and vibrant culture of human rights in South Africa, and as an off-shoot, of their regional partners on the continent.

A Few Glitches in the Road
In spite of its enormous growth and success over the years, in the course of 2006 the LRC faced a few internal challenges that forced Love to trim the organisation. As previously stated, currently the organisation has four regional offices but this wasn’t always the case. Last year, an office based in Pretoria had to be closed down due to various problems that the organisation faced in terms of resources. Love notes that, “We need to keep a vigilant eye on things like that.”

To overcome this issue, Love maintains that the only way that the organisation can maintain and stabilise its current financial position is by being conscious of all the resources the law clinic obtains and utilises at any given time.

Another challenge facing the organisation is the South African justice system. Love appraises the justice system and argues that the system requires the law clinic to work within an understanding that the capacity of the system is not able to respond quickly to the needs of the poor. She maintains that the, “LRC operates within a justice system that is in transition.” Love is of the view that South Africa’s state of democratic transition also creates internal challenges for the organisation in terms of capacity and broadening the number of practitioners who are committed to public interest and human rights law

Making Head Way
LRC hopes to strengthen its alliances with other civil society organisations nationally and regionally for the purposes of developing a sustainable and vibrant civil society. Love is determined that the LRC will further their active links within the region to further the human rights agenda. She anticipates that the development of a strong human rights framework within the continent will further inform international human rights law. Love argues that, “The need for the LRC to grow in strength and resolve in order to fulfil its mission is clear.”

As the year commences, LRC is set to challenge the National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) regarding the amended policy of the NPA, which they deem to be unconstitutional and expects to advance the case dealing with the unconstitutionality of the Communal Land Rights Act.

Going forward, Love hopes that the LRC provide their clients with more vibrant work to further the organisation’s mission to ensure that the principles, rights, and responsibilities enshrined in our national Constitution are respected, promoted, protected, and fulfilled.

– Badumile Duma, Civil Society Information Coordinator, SANGONeT.