The Faculty of Law (UP Law) at the University of Pretoria (UP) is proud to confirm that its Law Clinic (UPLC) has continued functioning amid the Covid pandemic lockdown in South Africa. In a report dated 16 July 2020, Mr Eddie Hanekom, the Director of the UP Law Clinic makes mention of the following accomplishments of the Law Clinic during the Covid pandemic and consequent lockdown levels implemented:

Development and implementation of an electronic UPLC file management system

During Lockdown level 5, the UP Law Clinic staff at both the Hatfield and Hammanskraal offices worked from home due to an electronic “Law Clinic File Management System” (LCFMS) that was under development by Chief Attorney Lourens Grové since December 2019.

At the time that the development of such an electronic system was conceptualised, the drivers towards such a system was the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The first basic version of the system was rolled out during February 2020. The implementation of the LCFMS therefore came at exactly the right time to assist with business continuity for the UP Law Clinic when the COVID-19 virus arrived in South Africa on 6 March 2020. The impact of the Lockdown on the UP Law Clinic was therefore to a large extent mitigated as the UPLC staff could continue working on current files and cases from home. The LCFMS’ development continues.

Representations to include University Law Clinics in the Minister of Justice’s Directions

The Director of the UPLC, Mr Eddie Hanekom, through representations to the Minister of Justice, in his capacity as President of the South African University Law Clinics Association (SAULCA), through the Law Society of South Africa and the Legal Practice Council, succeeded in convincing the Minister to include Directors and Managers of University Law Clinics in the definition as “head of institution”. Those Directors and Managers were thus authorised to issue permits to staff members for urgent and essential legal work.

As a result, all university law clinics could continue practicing during Levels 4 and 3 of the lockdown, assisting the indigent and those with a low income in our communities during the lockdown, regardless of the closure of universities.

Furthermore, resulting from Hanekom's representations to the Minister of Justice, “candidate legal practitioners” were also allowed to continue with their work and in particular to attend to court appearances. This concession by the Minister is of benefit the whole of the legal profession and not only to university law clinics.

Court appearances continued while “working from home”

During level 4 of the lockdown, appearances in all courts for urgent and essential matters continued. Hanekom and a junior attorney, Ms Gabriela Oosthuizen, appeared in all courts on behalf of the nine attorneys and eleven candidate attorneys at the Hatfield office of the UPLC.  Als the UPLC was not allowed to practice from the UP Law Clinic premises, staff members had to work from home. Consultations with clients took place at the various courts where the cases were set down.

UPLC limited on-premises services reopened on 15 June 2020

A number of attempts were made to obtain approval of a plan for reopening of the UPLC by the UP Management. A risk assessment was done, Standard Operation Procedures were put in place, a “COVID-19 Plan and Protocol” was compiled, staff were trained on-premises and PPE’s were sourced and distributed to all staff. Eventually, after a rigorous inspection of both premises, a Health and Safety Plan and Protocol was finally approved by the UP Occupational Health and Safety.   

Staff started to work on premises on a weekly rotation in two separate group from Monday 15 June 2020 until Friday 26 June 2020, consulting only with current clients. One group of staff worked at the office under the supervision of Messrs Piet Breedt, Lourens Grové and the Hanekom, while the other group worked from home.  At Hammanskraal the on-premises rotation also continued under the supervision of attorney Sophi Diale.

Court appearances continues: Intermittent Court closures

Although the UPLC continues with court appearances, it remains very difficult to manage as staff from the UPLC often arrive at court in the morning, only to find that the court is closed due to a Covid-19 infection. Closures are for periods of time ranging from a couple of days to more than a week. The Pretoria High Court, the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court, and the Temba Magistrates’ Court in Hammanskraal all recently were closed from time to time. The same applies to police stations, as the local Brooklyn and Garsfontein Police Stations were also recently closed.

Legal representation of accused in the Hatfield Criminal Court resumed

Representation of indigent members of the public at the Hatfield Community Court also resumed. The UPLC's task there is to represent accused in criminal cases who cannot afford to pay for representation by a private attorney or advocate. After negotiating with local officials of the Department of Justice and the Magistrate at the Hatfield Court, the implementation of some safety procedures for dealing with accused persons during the pandemic and lockdown, attorney Edna Pitsi continues with her duties there on a bi-weekly rotation. Mr Happy Shabangu of the UPLC did an inspection of the Court premises a few weeks ago, and as a result the UP donated and installed some perspex screens inside the Courtroom.

Limited consultations with new clients

From Monday 29 June to Friday 10 July 2020 the UPLC started consulting with new clients on urgent and essential cases. The demand for legal assistance was and still is overwhelming, forcing the UPLC to refuse to assist in many cases which the courts would not deem urgent nor essential.

Consultations with new clients on a limited basis resumed again on Tuesday, 21 July 2020.

Covid-19 infections on premises effectively curtailed

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, two of the UPLC staff members tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. The possibility of spreading the virus was effectively contained through our risk-mitigation and rotation plan. No other staff member on the premises was infected. The UPLC had to interrupt on-premises services to new members of the public for a while until 21 July 2010 for purposes of having the premises deep-cleaned, sanitised and disinfected.  Staff also had to complete a period of self-isolation.

The work for current clients is continuing from home through the LCFMS. A new on-premises rotation of staff started on 21 July 2020.

The Faculty of Law is appreciative of the dedication and loyalty of the UPLC staff members to UP and the community.