Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices as Part of the Wider Justice Network (ZA0020)

Status quo: Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices as part of the wider justice network, making the advice offices a permanent feature at grassroots level in communities as a means to advance access to justice at the coalface and frontline of community engagement.

Main objective: The main objective of this project is to contribute to the long-term development and sustainability of the community advice office sector in South Africa. Its specific objectives are to: (1) ensure that community based paralegals have the requisite skills to advocate for access to justice for marginalised and vulnerable (2) that they have the knowledge and skills to engage other civic groupings and government so as to advance the constitutional rights of citizens and communities (3) that the leadership within the sector is skilled to confront various challenges (4) that research and evaluations of programmes are conducted to ensure evidence based and cost effective interventions to advance arguments for sustainability of the sector (5) that the sector has access to a Case Management System (CMS) in selected provinces and based on the results consider the viability of a wider rolling out of the system.

Brief description: Nadcao seeks to strengthen the advice office sector by ensuring that the sector has the skills to lead advocacy and communications initiatives critical for long-term sector sustainability. Skills and knowledge in networking and engaging civic groupings and government are critical for shaping policy and debates on the value and impact of the work of community advice offices. This is essential for the sector to be recognised (through a regulatory framework and/or legislation and has access to the funding from the fiscus).

Relevance: This commitment is relevant to:
1. Public Accountability: Nadcao is committed to improving access to justice by making justice mechanisms cheaper, faster, or easier to use. The objective is to improve “the quality and access to basic services with a specific focus on sustainable development of communities and social cohesion.” In essence, without financial support from the national government of South Africa and other actors, the advice office sector will continue to struggle and this hampers the quality and accessibility of legal and human rights services to low income and indigent sectors of the population.
Goal 16 of the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs) which is to, “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”, is an opportunity for CAOs to contribute to the achievement of some of the indicators of this goal. It is also an opportunity for national government and other CSO actors to recognise the sector through a committed budget allocation to it. Furthermore, a well-financed and sustainable advice office sector enables poor communities to access justice and other human rights information and services.
2. Technology and innovation for openness and accountability: A well-funded community advice office sector will ensure access to technologies like computers, tablets and the internet which are essential for information sharing, public participation, and collaboration. Access to information for the public has the added advantage of enabling people to both understand what their governments are doing and on the other hand, the power to critique and influence decisions thus at the same time, promoting civic/public participation.
Technologically advanced community advice offices will make it easier to put an efficient national Case Management System in place which would be useful in creating a broad understanding of the kinds of issues dealt with at community level. Such information would be useful to understand trends, develop policy and advocacy initiatives by both government and civil society in improving access to justice for the poor and marginalized members of South African communities.

Challenges: Civic Engagement and Participation; Public Accountability; Technology and innovation for openness and accountability; Strong Institutions at Grassroots level; Access to Justice

Ambition: An increased flow of resources to the advice office sector will ensure development and sustainability of the sector. This will ultimately lead to a strengthened and consolidated community advice office sector with clear governance and accountability structures and a quality assurance framework. Furthermore, wider and richer networks (i.e. government; philanthropic entities; civil society actors) have the potential to shape and influence policy and debates concerning specifically the advice office sector and broadly the social justice sector. Finally, Nadcao aims to achieve sector recognition as evidenced by a regulatory framework endorsed by key political actors and ‘government’ commitment to, over time, pass legislation for sector regulation and funding.

5. Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices

Commitment Text:

Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices as part of the wider justice network, making the advice offices a permanent feature at grassroots level in communities as a means to advance access to justice at the coalface and frontline of community engagement.

NADCAO (National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices) seeks to strengthen the advice office sector by ensuring that the sector has the skills to lead advocacy and communications initiatives critical for long-term sector sustainability. Skills and knowledge in networking and engaging civic groupings and government are critical for shaping policy and debates on the value and impact of the work of community advice offices. This is essential for the sector to be recognised (through a regulatory framework and/or legislation and has access to the funding from the fiscus).

Milestones: (1) Training community-based paralegals on leadership, governance, and accountability. This will be implemented four times a year and will be aligned to ACAOSA council meetings. The intention is to ensure that community based paralegals interact with their provincial structures organised under ACAOSA and are kept abreast of the activities of ACAOSA in order to understand the internal leadership environment of the sector. During such training, a plan and implementation plan of programmes will be crafted and a monitoring and evaluation plan agreed to.

(2) Sector training in fundraising, communications, and advocacy. Through training and capacity building, the idea is to produce high impact advocacy and communications raising the profile of the sector, its work and value addition and the importance of access to justice in line with goal 16 of the Agenda 2030 SDGs.

(3) Sector training in engaging and networking with other civic groupings and government. Engaging the DoJ & CD on a regulatory framework for the advice office sector—the output will be better understanding and appreciation of the sector by government and commitment to regulation of the sector, which will lead to adequate investment in the long-term sustainability of the sector. A long-term result will be a clear regulatory and funding framework and legislation that will eventually a piece of law on regulation of community-based paralegals. Coupled with research on sector funding models, viability, and related challenges confronting the sector, this will enable long-term sustainability and advocacy interventions based on empirical evidence from research.

(4) Through the annual Dullah Omar School for paralegals this project will aim to build a cohort of individuals with a firm grasp of the needs of marginalised local communities and the key role of CBPs in driving access to justice for these marginalised communities. The output from this activity will be 100 paralegals per year—over three years—that are well-versed in the Agenda 2030 indicators on access to justice. This will result in better quality services to marginalised, poor, and working-class communities.

Responsible institution: National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO)

Supporting institutions: Association of Community-based Advice Offices of South Africa

Start date: January 2016

End date: December 2017

Context and Objectives

There are more than 300 Community Advice Offices (CAOs) in South Africa offering free basic legal and human rights information to people who have been marginalised as a result of poverty, social circumstances, and geographical location.^{[Note189: NADCAO 'Long-term sustainability of community advice offices', undated; Namati Legal Empowerment 'NADCAO, Nomboniso and the OGP Action Plan in South Africa – Questions for OGP story', Interview with Ms Nombonisa Maqubela (undated). ]} These offices are small, community-based non-profit organisations that provide a range of paralegal services. Training for paralegals has been offered for some time, for example, the South African Law School has offered paralegal courses since it was established in 1996^{[Note190: 'About us', South African Law School, http://lawschool.co.za/about/. ]} and there are a number of other training providers. CAOs promote access to justice at grassroots level and an interface between communities and sites of government service delivery.^{[Note191: Namati Legal Empowerment 'NADCAO, Nomboniso and the OGP Action Plan in South Africa – Questions for OGP story', Interview with Ms Nombonisa Maqubela (undated).]} The sector is unregulated and does not receive public funding. This has been a long-standing bone of contention between civil society organisations and various government departments, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Labour, and the Department of Social Development.^{[Note192: Namati Legal Empowerment 'NADCAO, Nomboniso and the OGP Action Plan in South Africa – Questions for OGP story', Interview with Ms Nombonisa Maqubela (undated). ]} A management committee comprised of community members oversees the CAOs’ work and appoints a Co-ordinator which, in most instances, is a paralegal.^{[Note193: Namati Lgeal Empowerment 'NADCAO, Nomboniso and the OGP Action Plan in South Africa – Questions for OGP story', Interview with Ms Nombonisa Maqubela (undated).]} However, the paralegal profession is not yet integrated into the broader justice system.

Commitment 5 is led by the National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO) and supported by the Association of Community Advice Offices of South Africa (ACAOSA) and marks the first time a civil society-led commitment was incorporated into an action plan in the history of South Africa’s participation in OGP.^{[Note194: See section 3.3 on 'Civil Society Engagement' for an account of how commitment 5 was included in the national action plan. ]} The main objective of the commitment is to contribute to the long-term development and sustainability of the CAOs. Community advocacy, fundraising, and awareness campaigns aim to strengthen leadership and public understanding about the important role of CAOs in the public sector. The commitment is of unclear relevance to any of the OGP values. At best, it could be related to the value of civic participation, in that its focus is on institutionalising arrangements that already provide largely free, easy to access and faster mechanisms for access to justice. However, even though CAOs provide rights-based education programmes, the commitment appears to be more squarely focused on service delivery and not participation in open government.

The proposed activities on various types of skills training are objectively verifiable, however, the commitment does not specify how engagement with international partners will take place or how awareness-raising campaigns will be conducted.

The potential impact of this commitment is minor. Coordinating leadership and skills training for leaders and members of CAOs and awareness campaigns on socio-economic rights are positive steps towards institutionalizing the CAO sector. Fortifying the core paralegal, lobbying, advocacy, fundraising and organizational skills could solidify the position of the sector over time. Nevertheless, focusing on skills development alone cannot help to institutionalize CAOs, without addressing the critical gaps of the lack of a proper regulatory framework and public funding.

Completion

The commitment is substantially complete. A variety of training initiatives have taken place. In 2016 the Dullah Omar School enrolled 105 paralegals for the 2017 cohort.^{[Note195: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017). The 2017 Dullah Omar School, themed 'Empowering Communities for Sustainable Development', will be hosted in October 2017 at the Tshwane University of Technology. The Dullah Omar School focuses on programmatic interventions. ]} A training programme for the provincial leaders of the National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO) on ‘Social Justice Coalition and Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000’ was delivered in all nine provinces.^{[Note196: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]} A two-day ‘Governance Conversation’ for the NADCAO Council (representing provinces) was convened in December 2016 and facilitated by the Legal Resources Centre.^{[Note197: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]} Training CAOs on resource mobilisation and funding also took place, with each province sending two delegates.^{[Note198: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]}

Additional training programmes provided by accredited and non-accredited service providers have been recognized or are in the pipeline. For example, since December 2016 NADCAO has been in discussion with the Law Clinic of North-West University for the development of a Governance Project that will benefit a minimum of 450 CAO staff and their respective boards and committees. A Bachelor in Paralegal Studies has also been developed at the Cape University of Technology.^{[Note199: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]} Together with the Association of Community Advice Offices of South Africa (ACAOSA), NADCAO held its ‘Collective Capacity Workshop’ on 11 November 2016 in order to develop a more coordinated approach to training for the sustainability of the sector.^{[Note200: NADCAO & ACAOSA 'Report of NADCAO/ACAOSA Collective Capacity Workshop' (November 2016) 2. ]}

Engagement with international actors has been limited. Following engagement with the Department of Justice (DoJ), NADCAO facilitated a learning trip to Scotland from 14 – 16 September 2016 to learn about the Parliamentary approved funding model. This model enables the Scottish Legal Aid Board to function as a funding conduit for civil society organizations working on access to justice.^{[Note201: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]} With the cooperation of the Department of Public Service and Administration, NADCAO submitted a funding concept note to the European Union Multiannual Indicative Programme (EU MIP) for funding NADCAO and the CAO sector.^{[Note202: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017).]}

Awareness campaigns on socio-economic rights awareness were completed on time. Following a national planning session with the provincial CAO council, NADCAO hosted seven workshops or ‘express breakfasts’. These workshops included actors from government, the CAO sector, donors, and civil society. Topics ranged from violence against women, to the contribution OGP can make to addressing the LGBTI and queer community, to promoting access to justice for persons with disabilities.^{[Note203: NADCAO 'OGP – NADCAO’s Update Report' (May 2017). ]}

Stakeholders identified three major challenges that have constrained the implementation of this work: There is a lack of data on the work of CAOs, which limits the policy influence the sector can have; there is also a lack of public funding for the CAO sector and the implementation of the activities proposed in this commitment; furthermore, the Department of Justice has not managed to successfully partner with NADCAO in advancing the institutionalisation of CAOs.^{[Note204: Focus group discussion with Ms Damaris Kiewits, Community Liaison Officer of the Community Engagement Unit, University of the Western Cape and Ms Lungile Kubheka, Strategic Programme Coordinator, NADCAO, convened by the IRM researcher on 7 September 2017; Ms Nontando Ngamlama, Executive Director, Afesis Corplan, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017; Ms Deborah Byrne, Country Engagement Developer, Making All Voices Count, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017.]}

Early Results

Early results of the activities can be assessed in the context of both the immediate training goals specified as well as the longer-term goals of institutionalising the sector.

There are a variety of outstanding issues relating to the training needs of the CAO sector. Participants at the ‘Collective Capacity’ meeting convened by the National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO) raised a variety of outstanding training issues. They mentioned the tension between CAOs as centres for paralegal services and broader social justice services (e.g. additional training in activism and not simply on how to access legal services) which impacts on defining the training needs for the sector as well as the need to ‘train the trainers’. There were several other training issues highlighted, such as connection between trainings, accreditation, and the incorporation of community and indigenous justice.^{[Note205: NADCAO & ACAOSA 'Report of NADCAO/ACAOSA Collective Capacity Workshop' (November 2016) 8.]}

Stakeholders were generally of the opinion that while the CAO sector was a critical point of entry for the poor regarding access to justice and government service delivery, it remained precarious. They felt that little had changed in government practice to address the impasse surrounding the sector’s institutionalisation.^{[Note206: Focus group discussion with Ms Damaris Kiewits, Community Liaison Officer of the Community Engagement Unit, University of the Western Cape and Ms Lungile Kubheka, Strategic Programme Coordinator, NADCAO, convened by IRM researcher on 7 September 2017; Ms Nontando Ngamlama, Executive Director, Afesis Corplan, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017; Ms Deborah Byrne, Country Engagement Developer, Making All Voices Count, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017.]} The Association of Community Advice Offices of South Africa (ACAOSA) prepared a Community Advice Office Draft Bill, which provides for a publicly funded National Community Advice Offices Council^{[Note207: Section 20, Community Advice Office Draft Bill. ]} where CAOs would be funded by both public and donor money.^{[Note208: Section 22, Community Advice Office Draft Bill. ]} ACAOSA submitted the Draft Bill to the Department of Justice, but to date this Bill has not been introduced in Parliament. Other than the funding concept note submitted to the European Union Multiannual Indicative Programme, there has been no further collaboration between government and civil society to secure public or donor money for the CAO sector.

Next Steps

Among the stakeholders interviewed there was support for keeping a commitment relating to the institutionalisation of CAOs in the action plan, although this was not unanimous. For example, Deborah Byrne, Country Engagement Developer of Making All Voices Count, opined that the long-standing tension between the institutionalisation of the sector and its funding needed to be resolved with urgency and could not carry on indefinitely. However, she noted that it was unlikely to be resolved by OGP.^{[Note209: Ms Deborah Byrne, Country Engagement Developer, Making All Voices Count, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017]} The view was nevertheless unanimous that Commitment 5 required a government partner or cohort of partners, inclusive of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, even if led by a civil society organisation.^{[Note210: Focus group discussion with Ms Damaris Kiewits, Community Liaison Officer of the Community Engagement Unit, University of the Western Cape and Ms Lungile Kubheka, Strategic Programme Coordinator, NADCAO, convened by IRM researcher on 7 September 2017; Ms Nontando Ngamlama, Executive Director, Afesis Corplan, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017; Ms Deborah Byrne, Country Engagement Developer, Making All Voices Count, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017; Ms Lynette Maart, National Director, Black Sash, interview with IRM researcher, 21 September 2017.]} Stakeholders suggested for the remaining time of the current action plan, it should proceed with focusing on the critical pillars of legislative reform^{[Note211: Ms Nontando Ngamlana, Executive Director, Afesis Corplan, interview with IRM researcher, 18 September 2017.]} and funding.^{[Note212: Focus group discussion with Ms Damaris Kiewits, Community Liaison Officer of the Community Engagement Unit, University of the Western Cape and Ms Lungile Kubheka, Strategic Programme Coordinator, NADCAO, convened by IRM researcher on 7 September 2017.]}

The IRM researcher would recommend the implementation of Commitment 5 to focus squarely on engagements that advance the legislative formalisation of the sector and funding. It is recommended that the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) urgently convene a steering committee with representation of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO) and the Association of Community Advice Offices of South Africa (ACAOSA), with a view to developing an action plan for legislative reform and funding of the CAO sector in compliance with the spirit of Commitment 5.

5. Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices 

Commitment Text:

Institutionalisation of Community Advice Offices as part of the wider justice network, making the advice offices a permanent feature at grassroots level in communities as a means to advance access to justice at the coalface and frontline of community engagement.

NADCAO (National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices) seeks to strengthen the advice office sector by ensuring that the sector has the skills to lead advocacy and communications initiatives critical for long-term sector sustainability. Skills and knowledge in networking and engaging civic groupings and government are critical for shaping policy and debates on the value and impact of the work of community advice offices. This is essential for the sector to be recognised (through a regulatory framework and/or legislation and has access to the funding from the fiscus).

Milestones: (1) Training community-based paralegals on leadership, governance, and accountability. This will be implemented four times a year and will be aligned to ACAOSA council meetings. The intention is to ensure that community based paralegals interact with their provincial structures organised under ACAOSA and are kept abreast of the activities of ACAOSA in order to understand the internal leadership environment of the sector. During such training, a plan and implementation plan of programmes will be crafted and a monitoring and evaluation plan agreed to.

(2) Sector training in fundraising, communications, and advocacy. Through training and capacity building, the idea is to produce high impact advocacy and communications raising the profile of the sector, its work and value addition and the importance of access to justice in line with goal 16 of the Agenda 2030 SDGs.

(3) Sector training in engaging and networking with other civic groupings and government. Engaging the DoJ & CD on a regulatory framework for the advice office sector—the output will be better understanding and appreciation of the sector by government and commitment to regulation of the sector, which will lead to adequate investment in the long-term sustainability of the sector. A long-term result will be a clear regulatory and funding framework and legislation that will eventually a piece of law on regulation of community based paralegals. Coupled with research on sector funding models, viability, and related challenges confronting the sector, this will enable long-term sustainability and advocacy interventions based on empirical evidence from research.

(4) Through the annual Dullah Omar School for paralegals this project will aim to build a cohort of individuals with a firm grasp of the needs of marginalised local communities and the key role of CBPs in driving access to justice for these marginalised communities. The output from this activity will be 100 paralegals per year—over three years—that are well-versed in the Agenda 2030 indicators on access to justice. This will result in better quality services to marginalised, poor, and working-class communities.

Responsible Institution(s): National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices

(NADCAO)

Supporting Institution(s): Association of Community-based Advice Offices of South Africa

Start Date: January 2016 

End Date: December 2017

Commitment Aim

Led by the National Alliance for Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO), this commitment marked the first incorporation of a civil society-led initiative into a South Africa OGP action plan. The commitment primarily aimed to contribute to the long-term development and sustainability of Community Advice Offices (CAOs), which are small, community-based, non-profit organisations offering free basic legal and human rights information to marginalised people. There are about 300 CAOs in South Africa, yet the sector is unregulated and does not receive public funding.[65]

Status

Midterm: Substantial

NADCAO undertook a variety of training initiatives in 2017. For example, from 22 to 27 October 2017, more than 125 paralegals were trained at the third Dullah Omar School for Paralegalism.[66] NADCAO and the Association of Community Advice Offices of South Africa (ACAOSA) also led trainings on the use of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to promote social justice coalitions.[67] NADCAO also led workshop discussions with training service providers on coordinated approaches to accreditation of training in the sector.[68]

NADCAO engaged the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) on the issue of the long-term funding of the sector, but by the midterm, no long-term public or donor funding for the CAO sector had been secured.[69]

End of term: Substantial

The IRM researcher was unable to contact representatives of NADCAO to gauge the implementation progress of this commitment, despite several attempts.[70] A desktop survey of the state of institutionalisation of the CAO sector also failed to reveal any further progress.

Did It Open Government?

Access to information: Did Not Change

Civic participation: Did Not Change

Public accountability: Did Not Change

This commitment was not directly relevant to OGP and did not lead to opening government as implemented. Nor did it resolve the two key policy questions at the heart of the CAO sector’s instability: namely, how the paralegal sector should be regulated, and whether CAOs should be publicly funded. This can largely be ascribed to the design of the commitment and the lack of a government partner.

Carried Forward?

At the time of writing this report, the South African government has not finished developing its fourth action plan. The IRM researcher recommends carrying this commitment forward, but with a focus on advancing the legislative formalisation of the CAO sector and funding. The IRM researcher also recommends that the DPSA convene a steering committee with representation from the DoJ and Constitutional Development, NADCAO and ACAOSA, with a view to developing an action plan for legislative reform and funding of the CAO sector.