People's Legal Centre

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People's Legal Centre

People’s Law is a paralegal education training programme with the aim of providing access to justice.

03/08/2026

The fight to reimagine Cape Town's ward committee rules continues.

Join our final citywide workshop series as we unite community voices and consolidate proposals before any new rules are drafted.

We are calling on leaders from every ward committee sector, youth, women, labour, business, faith communities, civic organisations, education, people living with disabilities, older persons, sport, arts and culture, environmental groups, neighbourhood watches, and community development, to help shape a ward committee system that is truly democratic, inclusive, and accountable.

Your community. Your voice. Your rules.
Nothing about our communities without our communities.

30/07/2026

Real participation starts long before the meeting begins.

If we want ward committees that truly represent our communities, we must arrive organised, informed, and united.

Have you mobilised your ward? Engaged leaders across every represented sector? Identified your community's priorities? Prepared to influence local planning

Don't just attend: organise. Don't just participate: lead.

Together, we're building a ward committee system that is democratic, inclusive, and accountable to the people.

29/07/2026

The fight to reimagine Cape Town's ward committee rules continues.

Join our final citywide workshop series as we unite community voices and consolidate proposals before any new rules are drafted.

We are calling on leaders from every ward committee sector, youth, women, labour, business, faith communities, civic organisations, education, people living with disabilities, older persons, sport, arts and culture, environmental groups, neighbourhood watches, and community development, to help shape a ward committee system that is truly democratic, inclusive, and accountable.

Your community. Your voice. Your rules.

Nothing about our communities without our communities.

28/07/2026

Whose voices are being heard...and whose are being left out?

These are the lived realities of residents navigating a ward committee system that too often excludes the communities it is meant to serve.

Ward committees are a cornerstone of participatory democracy, public participation, and local government accountability. Yet Cape Town's current system raises serious concerns about transparency, inclusion, and constitutional compliance.

We are calling on the City of Cape Town to rewrite its ward committee rules through a genuinely participatory process that centres the voices of all residents; especially those from historically excluded communities.

Listen to the people. Their experiences make the case for change.

07/07/2026

VICTORY FOR DIGNIFIED HOUSING!

The City of Cape Town has been forced to correct its unlawful tariff policy, allowing social housing tenants to access indigent benefits (free basic water, electricity & refuse removal).
Massive credit and recognition to the organised tenants of FCI (Goodwood Station) and the Housing Assembly !
This wasn't handed down as an act of goodwill; it was won through your relentless organizing, solidarity, and refusal to accept unlawful charges.

CALL TO ACTION: If you are a social housing tenant earning under R7,500/month, write to your landlord NOW to claim your benefits and copy [email protected] so we can track compliance.

Affordable housing is a right, not a privilege!

03/07/2026

Empowering Communities, One Paralegal at a Time:

From 9 February to 24 June 2026, our first Community Paralegal Course cohort for 2026 dedicated five months to learning, growing and strengthening their ability to serve their communities.

Today, we celebrate not only the completion of a course, but the beginning of a lifelong commitment to justice. Your dedication, perseverance and passion for standing alongside others have shown what it truly means to build bridges of justice where they are needed most.

Thank you for choosing to serve, to lead and to empower. Your communities are stronger because of you, and we cannot wait to see the impact you will continue to make.

02/07/2026

We're hiring!

People's Legal Centre is looking for a Litigation Attorney to join our growing Law Clinic in Mowbray, Cape Town.

If you're passionate about social justice, strategic litigation, and using the law to drive systemic change, we'd love to hear from you.

📢 Applications are now open: https://hashtagnonprofit.org/vacancies/litigation-attorney-at-the-peoples-legal-centre

Apply today and help shape a more just society.

23/06/2026

Empowering Communities through Legal Education.

On 20 June 2026, People's Legal Centre recently facilitated a Housing Rights Workshop with the Congolese Civil Society of South Africa (CCSA) at Bertha House , creating a space for meaningful discussions on housing rights, renting, eviction protections, and access to legal remedies for foreign nationals living in South Africa.

Participants explored their constitutional rights, the realities of the housing market, and practical tools such as the Rental Housing Tribunal to address housing-related disputes.

A big thank you to CCSA and all attendees for their active participation and commitment to building informed, empowered communities.

22/06/2026

Final selection for our Community Paralegal Course has now been completed. If you applied, please check your email (including your spam/junk folder) for an update on your application.

We are incredibly grateful for the hundreds of applications we received and the passion shown by people committed to justice and community empowerment.

If you were not selected, please know this is not a reflection of your character, commitment, or the important work you do. Due to distance, resource constraints, and limited space, we were only able to accept 35 participants into this cohort.

Thank you for standing for justice in your communities; your work matters.

18/06/2026

On 15 June 2025, our community paralegals were joined by guest facilitator Akhona from the Development Action Group for a powerful session on Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) at Bertha House

At the heart of the session was a simple but transformative shift: communities are not defined by their challenges, but by their strengths.

Our community paralegals were challenged to look differently at the places they call home, to identify and map the assets already present within their communities. From individuals with skills and lived experience, to schools, parks, churches, and local spaces of connection, the exercise revealed a powerful truth: resources for change already exist within the community itself.

Through this lens, development becomes less about “fixing” from the outside and more about strengthening what already works from within.

A powerful reminder that lasting change begins with what communities already have, and the people who already carry the knowledge, networks, and capacity to lead it.

Address

Cape Town

Website

https://peopleslegalcentre.org/

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