In a welcome change from reports on the litany of challenges confronting Africa in general and South Africa in particular, the 2023 Pro Bono Report of leading African law firm Bowmans offers a hopeful – yet realistic – view of societal solidarity and support.
‘The report shows what is possible when a large law firm collaborates with non-profit organisations, companies and community groups on pro bono projects that matter,’ says Fatima Laher, head of Pro Bono at Bowmans.
Far from shying away from the very real socio-economic and access-to-justice problems confronting the continent, it demonstrates how the law and legal professionals can assist in solving these.
Entrepreneurship is widely seen as an antidote to high unemployment, yet many small businesses and start-ups battle to navigate the legal requirements around tax, company registration and contracts of all kinds.
‘There is a great need among entrepreneurs for legal assistance with corporate-related matters,’ says Laher ‘Through our Ishishini Lethu (Our business) initiative, we dedicate hundreds of hours a year to providing corporate-based pro bono legal services to qualifying small businesses and start-ups.’
The initiative has already been running for almost a decade. Some of the pro bono clients assisted in the past year include a small investment firm working with low and middle-income clients such as stokvels and savings groups, and a cannabis services provider specialising in the African medical cannabis and industrial hemp industries.
Bowmans lawyers also participated in training workshops and expos for entrepreneurs and SME owners, such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Expo held at the University of the Witwatersrand in July 2022.
Meanwhile, volunteer lawyers from Bowmans staff the weekly domestic violence helpdesk at the Randburg Magistrate’s court where, every Tuesday, they assist victims of domestic violence to obtain protection orders, among other services.
Our work at the helpdesk was interrupted for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic,’ says Laher. ‘We were very pleased when the court allowed us to resume our in-person pro bono services in March 2022.’
Still in the sphere of combating domestic and gender-based violence (GBV), the firm collaborated with Embrace, a national social movement for mothers, in hosting the Johannesburg screening of a mini-documentary series on obstetric violence within the healthcare system.
Obstetric violence refers to rights violations and abuses affecting pregnant women and birthing people while accessing healthcare during pregnancy, labour, childbirth and in the post-partum period. ‘This supports our overall legal work on GBV and enabled us to assist in giving exposure to this lesser-known form of violence against women,’ says Laher.
‘We are also very proud of our contribution to the newly achieved legal recognition of Muslim marriages.’ Muslim women and gender rights activists have been advocating for statutory recognition of Muslim marriages since South Africa became a democratic state in 1994. However, it was only in 2014 that the matter was taken to the courts.
In that year, the Women’s Legal Centre, supported by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), lodged a High Court challenge seeking to compel the State to recognise and regulate Muslim marriages by means of legislation.
Almost eight years later, in June 2022, the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to amend existing legislation or enact new legislation that recognises and regulates Muslim marriages within 24 months.
‘From November 2016 onwards, Bowmans represented the SAHRC in the hearings in the High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court,’ says Laher. ‘The time and expertise invested in this matter, and in our other pro bono work on gender and family justice, have a very real bearing on our society’s strivings to fulfil the Bill of Rights and South Africa’s international law obligations.’
As Laher notes, these outcomes demonstrate the problem-solving capabilities that can be unleashed through solidarity and support. ‘Collaboration is the key to addressing challenges that seem intractable.’
The Bowmans 2023 Pro Bono and CSR report can be accessed here.