Alexandrians should be grateful to ENSAfrica law firm for developing their internal capacity to assist them with their social and economic rights against challenges bedevilling this impoverished township.
The firm’s pro bono service trains and handles their cases which, in addition to the courts, police, social services, NPOs and other agencies, empowers children, activists, development practitioners and residents to assume their rights, and imparts awareness on the basics of the Constitution and human rights laws.
The firm’s Ngoako Raboshakga said case handling includes labour, matrimony and small business matters. He also praised the community for embarking on the Constitution and human rights literacy awareness training. “The constitutional law course, which includes moot court sessions, debates, essay writing and critique, is a partnership with university students’ NPO Clasi. It targets teams of Grade 11 pupils to develop local capacity on constitutional awareness from an early age. This helps them to grasp the basic tenets of the foundation of all national laws governing inter-relations of people, institutions and government,” Raboshakga said.
He added that the course, which has been running since 2004, also benefits children inclined towards a career in law by preparing them for tertiary study and provides them with bursary opportunities which a former Minerva Secondary School pupil and course participant is using for law studies at the University of Johannesburg.
Raboshakga said participants engaged in localised contests to develop legal debating skills and deepen their grasp of legal issues. This, he said, progressed to provincial and national competitions adjudicated by advocates and Constitutional Court judges with winners awarded goodies and bursaries.
Minerva, Alex High, Realogile, and Kwa-Bhekilanga Secondary schools have been attending since inception and once, Minerva reached the national competition but lost to a Western Cape school that eventually won the international contest in The Hague, Netherlands, against an American school.
Raboshakga expects the participants to use the knowledge and experience gained to help others in distress. He said their legal knowledge should be complemented by graduates of the firm’s other six-month course on constitutional law and human rights, which has been running for six years. Participants of the course attend in groups of 25 to 30 and include teachers, counsellors, political and social activists, community leaders, labour court officials and teachers.
“I expect the two groups to complement each other, use their combined effort and work from an informed basis to support the rest of the community.”
Details: ENSAfrica 011 555 0980
