and the Alexandra Law Clinic was also relocated to the Doornfontein Law Clinic in January 2008. The last of the three law clinics that are currently operational, the Soweto Law Clinic opened its doors in 2011. Currently, the UJ Law Clinic is administered by the following personnel: The director Natasha Naidoo; Soweto Law Clinic: Alet Beyl (principal attorney), Elton Hart (attorney), Bongiwe Fakude (secretary); Auckland Park Law Clinic: Goksen Effendi (attorney), Zipo Zuba (attorney) and Magda Otto (senior secretary); Doornfontein Law Clinic: Elize Radley (principal attorney) and Mamokgele Maleka (secretary). Some highlights: The Law Clinic at Doornfontein Campus, has successfully litigated against various State Organs such as the Department of Home Affairs, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the Minister of Police, and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in matters of a delictual nature. In one matter, we instituted motion proceedings against the Department of Home Affairs. The client was a party to a registered marriage to a Pakistani national whom she had never met or married. This resulted in a very lengthy and expensive High Court
Application which the Department of Home Affairs strenuously opposed. Justice prevailed, and we obtained a court order with costs against Home Affairs, who was instructed to expunge the marriage from their records. In 2016, one of our alumnus students and former student assistant at the Doornfontein Campus Law Clinic, Ashley Seckel, was awarded the 2016 ProBono.Org National Award, which recognises a high level of commitment and dedication a law student to his or her work at a university law clinic. The Soweto Campus Law Clinic was instrumental in the case of Baby Daniels, where the attorney played an instrumental role in bringing the mother and her boyfriend at the time to justice. In 2010 the Law Clinic received an award of recognition by the university’s community engagement department for the faculty-based project, and in 2011 the law clinic took 1st place for their university-based community engagement project. This year the Law Clinic was very fortunate to receive funding for our Lexis Nexis subscription, from the German-South African Lawyers Association, in the amount of R50 000 00.
By the mid 80’s the Faculty of Law recognised huge public demand for such a community service and, together with the profession, decided to let the Clinic function on a more permanent basis. As a result, Pierre de Kock, an attorney, was appointed the first full-time director in 1986. Since the UJ campus was accessible to a large sector of the community, particularly that on the West Rand, the clinics in Westbury and Roodepoort respectively were closed in 1987 and 1989. Soon thereafter, the Faculty recognised the dire need for legal assistance in the Alexandra township, and the Alexandra Clinic opened its doors to the public in 1989. During the years following the first RAU Law Clinic opening, the personnel experimented with time slots that best suited the public. Saturday mornings, weekday afternoons and evenings, and various other time slots proved not viable for various reasons. Today, the Clinics are open to the public between the hours of 8:00 and 13:00. Due to increased demand in the following couple of years, two additional Clinics opened at Germiston (1994), and the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court was situated at the Family Courts at 15 Market Street (1998). The Germiston Clinic relocated to Doornfontein Campus in July 2007,
Auckland Park Campus Law Clinic
Doornfontein campus Law Clinic
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