Hon Chairperson, I have been following the work of this committee through the parliamentary working group reports, so I have an understanding of what has been going on in the committee. Adequate and competent legal representation in our courts of law is the fundamental right of every South African citizen. We are all equal before the law and we all have the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
In practice, however, we see a vastly different scenario playing itself out, a scenario in which the more money you have available to pay for lawyers and advocates will directly equate to the level of equality and protection you receive from the law. Under our current legal dispensation, all South Africans are definitely not equal before the law and there have been many high profile cases that clearly illustrate this point.
However, in supporting this Bill, we welcome the increase in legal aid services to our paralegal and community law and advice centres. These community-based centres are the coalface of the vast majority of citizens' foray into the legal system for legal redress, advice and protection. We must therefore ensure that the legal advice and protection they receive are correct and will assist and not, as is often the case, hinder their efforts to achieve redress.
Issues to be addressed in moving forward include accessibility of Legal Aid offices. Our understanding is that these offices are situated in urban areas and many people do not have easy access to them. Even if they do have access, many of them are made to wait in long queues and are sometimes not attended to and have to return the next day to try and get some sort of support from these Legal Aid offices. This needs to be looked into very, very urgently.
The other area that needs to be considered is the quality of lawyers that are assigned by the Legal Aid Board. The last speaker is quite correct that the hon Chief Justice of our country even made the comment - it was raised by the speaker from the DA - that the quality of lawyers in the pool of Legal Aid lawyers sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. To this extent we would like the hon Minister to inform this House whether consideration has been given to community service, that is, for law graduates to serve the community after graduating. Along these lines, why can't private practitioners be used for Legal Aid, because they have the experience and have the wherewithal. And, as part of their contribution to society, should we not regulate that private practitioners should also be used in the pool of Legal Aid lawyers?
We find that the Law Society does offer a pro bono service, but it is 24 hours per attorney who is registered per year. Twenty-four hours a year of service is offered by an attorney. That is not acceptable. And I think the Legal Aid Board - the new institution that has been set up - in moving forward, needs to look into these issues, because our people in our country deserve justice. Thank you very much. [Applause.]