The Legal Aid Clinic, which has served a large number of individuals in the Boland region, will find a new home from 11 December 2017.
As part of its strategic goals, and in association with the Law Faculty at Stellenbosch University (SU), the Legal Aid Clinic will move from 44 Banhoek Road to 18-24 Crozier Street.
The move will ensure that there is a better integration with the university’s Law Faculty and give easier access from public transport to its current and future clients, says Theo Broodryk, Manager of the Legal Aid Clinic and Senior Lecturer at the university’s Law Faculty.
“The move just made more practical sense. Being in Crozier Street, which will be across from the Law Faculty (situated in the Old Main Building on the corner of Victoria and Ryneveld Street) and close to the Stellenbosch Magistrate Court, will help reach more law students who want to get involved at the clinic and help clients in the community in need of legal representation.”
Broodryk believes that the old location of the clinic did not fully help the Law Faculty achieve their social awareness goals.
“With the old location, the clinic was a bit hidden from law students, although it is accessible to the remainder of the University. Now that the clinic will be so close to the law faculty, there is a better opportunity to share resources and help give clients an even better service.”
The Legal Aid Clinic functions as a law firm and forms part of the SU Law Faculty. The Clinic also trains future prospective human rights lawyers by providing practical legal training to final year law students.
“The clinic will be able to give practical training to more law students in future. At the moment we only had about 50 to 60 students a year receiving training or volunteering at the clinic, but with the new location we can increase that to about 200 students by 2019,” says Broodryk.
The Legal Aid Clinic is also planning a relaunch and rebranding, as part of the centenary celebrations of SU next year.
The Legal Aid Clinic will be operational until its move on 11 December 2017 and then re-open its doors to the public from 15 January 2018.
For more information on the Legal Aid Clinic click here.