Stellenbosch University (SU) Legal Aid Clinic has saved many farm workers from being unlawfully evicted through the free legal services they provide. According to their website, the Law Clinic operates as a fully-fledged attorneys’ office, delivering free legal services to the indigent.
They helped Nettie Welcome, a resident on the Ashanti farm in Paarl, when she was under threat of being evicted from her home. She is grateful that the case ended in her favour.
18-24 Crozier Road, home of the Law Clinic since December 2017. PHOTO: SU Corporate Communication.
“[They] kept me well-informed of the process, since the case went on from 2010 to 2017. We were represented by Nikita [Roode, who specialises in Land Rights and Labour Law at SU Legal Aid Clinic]. She won the eviction case for us. I am very thankful for the legal aid clinic. If it was not for them we would be out on the street,” Welcome said.
In the case of Ashanti Wine & Country Estate versus those under threat of eviction, both Judge Dobson of the Paarl Magistrates Court and Judge Poswa-Lerotholi of the Land Claims Court of South Africa found that Ashanti Wine and Country Estate’s decision to evict did not follow section 8(1) of Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA).
Section 8(1) states that people on the land may be evicted only if the decision is lawful and “provided that such termination is just and equitable”. This means that termination has to be justified and fair in terms of the criteria set out in Section 8 of the ESTA.
Roode added: “Evictions, however, often follow labour disputes, as the fairness or unfairness of the worker’s dismissal is a factor that the court will need to take into consideration when deciding whether eviction would be just and equitable”.
“The ESTA Act has an effect on both farm workers and owners, as the Act protects the rights of farm owners in terms of section 25 of the Constitution (right to property), and the rights of farm workers in terms of section 26 of the Constitution (right to housing),” she said.
The Clinic provides people-centred services and caters specifically to the unique needs of their clients. One of the reasons the clinic moved to 18-24 Crozier street in December 2017 was to be closer to public transport.
A map of how to get to the law clinic from the Stellenbosch Taxi rank. PHOTO: Google Maps.
The SU Law Clinic prides itself on being able to handle multiple cases of evictions at a time so that the rights of farm workers continue to be protected through their work.
Roode explains that farm evictions are a “pressing issue that we are continuously confronted with”. She also says that the Law Clinic specifically assists their clients with the opposition of eviction applications.
“At present, we see approximately five clients with farm eviction-related matters (applications for eviction, threatening evictions, unfair dismissals or disturbance of possession) per week at the Law Clinic.
“We successfully opposed 11 ESTA applications in the Paarl Magistrates Court. The applications were all dismissed, whereafter the farm owner appealed to the Land Claims Court in Cape Town,” said Roode, explaining the clinic’s successful track record.