The SASLAW Pro Bono NPC project at the South African Labour Courts serves to deliver a quality advisory service and defined Labour Law legal services to those who otherwise do not have access to justice.

In October 2010, the then Judge President of the Labour Courts, Dunstan Mlambo, approached the president of SASLAW, Bradley Conradie, to secure the assistance of the society in providing pro-bono services at the Labour Courts across the country. The response was swift and on the 22 October 2010, by way of a resolution adopted at the SASLAW Annual Conference in Cape Town, the national committee was given an open mandate to provide Judge Mlambo with whatever assistance the labour courts required.

Following the extension of the mandate, members of the national committee got to work in the months of November and December 2010. Meetings were held with the labour judiciary and eight large firms of attorneys in Johannesburg with established labour law departments and pro-bono programs. By December 2010 a broad outline of the proposal for the pro-bono project had been prepared and was adopted by the SASLAW National Committee under the presidency of Bradley Conradie.

The success of the pilot project was assured with the active involvement of the judiciary in particular, Judge Mlambo. The role of Judge Gush was also significant, his advice to SASLAW was to make a start and deal with challenges as they arose. The pilot project achieved it’s purpose and NPC offices were opened in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

SASLAW Pro Bono NPC is committed to the project and its general membership is committed to:

• Assisting unrepresented and indigent litigants in gaining access to justice
• Using their knowledge in the field of Labour Law to perform pro bono work
• Assisting the Labour Court in addressing the backlog in its case-load and facilitating the efficient operation of the various Labour Courts
• The project assists the Labour Court with giving South Africans who cannot afford legal assistance, the right to have access to justice, and to receive advice on their labour matters from professional and qualified attorneys