The South African Society for Labour Law (SASLAW) to launch a non-profit company

The South African Society for Labour Law (SASLAW) will launch a non-profit company today,  4 March 2014,  to perpetuate the work it has been doing in its trial pro bono project,  the SASLAW Advice Centre, in Gauteng. The pro bono project has been running since February 2011 to assist people with labour issues who would not otherwise have access to lawyers. The SASLAW Pro bono project, now in its fourth year, has been so successful that the formation of a non-profit company has become a necessity. The non-profit company will assist with fund raising to aid in the continued operation of the SALAW advice centres. 

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s employment lawyers have contributed to the trial project’s success. The firm contributed more hours to the SASLAW Gauteng project than any other law firm during 2012 and 2013 –  with their attorneys spending 218 hours working the Advice Centre in 2013 alone, and 436 hours since the project began in February 2011.

Michael Yeates, a director in the Employment practice and Vice President of Saslaw Gauteng Chapter, spent 17 hours working in the SASLAW Advice Centre in 2013. Yeates says that every director and associate in the Employment practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr has been involved in the Centre.

“Our employment practice has adopted this project as our own and as such we are delighted that it has been so successful that it will now launch a non-profit company,” he says.

Since the inception of the project in February 2011, the Johannesburg advise office has advised 5793 clients.

“The Advice Centre is excellent experience for a labour attorney who gets to see the other side of employment law. Advising employers is somewhat different to advising individuals and it can only lend itself to making one a better all-round labour lawyer. It is also extremely rewarding to be able to help someone who would otherwise not have access to legal advice and help. The non-profit company will ensure this project’s sustainability " adds Yeates.