MPs fear Legal Aid services will be affected by Marikana judgment
CAPE TOWN — MPs fear that last week’s court judgment compelling the state to provide legal services for the miners arrested and wounded at Marikana could place the provision of legal services to indigent South Africans at risk as Legal Aid SA does not have the money.
Legal Aid SA is one of the government’s major success stories, with a string of clean audit reports. The organisation is one of the few state institutions that regularly gets a clean bill of health from the auditor-general and it also regularly spends 99% of its budget providing legal services to indigent South Africans.
MPs on the justice committee yesterday expressed concern about the high court ruling that the state, through Legal Aid SA, should pay the legal costs of the Marikana miners and the families of those who died.
The decision drew jubilation on Tuesday at the Farlam commission of inquiry into the Marikana massacre, where Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa said the judgment represented a “win for the workers”.
Legal Aid SA chairman Judge Dunstan Mlambo told the committee that the board was still studying the judgment and he preferred not to express an opinion until there was collective agreement on the way ahead.
Justice committee chairman Luwellyn Landers said that in the light of the judgment, there was sympathy in the committee for finding additional resources for Legal Aid SA.
Judge Mlambo said the organisation was already involved in the Farlam commission by providing legal assistance to the families of both the miners and the police who died.
Legal Aid SA CEO Vidhu Vedalankar said the services provided so far had cost R2m. If the wounded and arrested miners were added to the families of the dead, it would cost R17m up to the end of the financial year in March.
“We don’t have it and we will have to cut back on other services unless there is extra funding from the government,” Ms Vedalankar said.
There was spontaneous applause from the MPs on the committee when chief financial officer Rebecca Hlabatau reported that the 2012-13 financial year was the 12th year in succession that Legal Aid SA had obtained an unqualified audit report, and the eighth in a row that the auditor-general had not emphasised any matters or even raised matters as being potentially problematic.
Ms Hlabatau said Legal Aid SA had spent 98.7% of its budget in the year under review and there had been efficient supply chain management.
Unlike many government entities, Legal Aid SA paid 99% of its creditors within 30 days of invoice date, as specified by the National Treasury.
Introducing the briefing, Judge Mlambo said Legal Aid SA had provided legal assistance to indigent South Africans in 736,697 legal matters.