Mr Eddie Hanekom, Director of the University of Pretoria (UP) Law Clinic, was elected President of the National Executive Committee of the South African University Law Clinics Association (SAULCA). This announcement was made at SAULCA’s annual general meeting on 19 November 2019 at Broederstroom.

SAULCA is the national umbrella body representing University Law Clinics in South Africa, (formerly known as “AULAI” the Association for University Legal Aid institutions).

Hanekom served a number of terms on the executive committee as an additional member as well as the past two terms as Deputy President of the organisation.

SAULCA has been instrumental in the advancement of Clinical Legal Education as a teaching methodology in South Africa. In the past it published manuals for use in law clinics with Prof Yousuf Vawda as General Editor. In 2018, the book “Law Clinics and the Clinical Law Movement in South Africa” with Prof Jobst Bodenstein as Editor, was published by JUTA. All the contributors were attached to University Law Clinics in South Africa and Hanekom was one of the contributors. This is regarded as a huge milestone for SAULCA and University Law Clinics in South Africa in general.

Delegates at the recent SAULCA workshop held from 18 to 20 November addressed topical issues. How do the Legal Practice Act and other acts like the Protection of Personal Information Act change the landscape for University Law Clinics, which blended / integrated learning methods are already used or could be implemented in law clinics, and what could the relevance of the 4th Industrial Revolution be to University Law Clinics?

Hanekom re-joined the UP Faculty of Law on 1 May 2019. He was previously also employed at the UP Faculty of Law for more than six years, lecturing in Criminal Procedure and assisting with lectures in Sports Law and Legal Practice.  For the past 12 years he was the Director of the UJ Law Clinic.

The UP Law Clinic is one of the biggest in the country and has cemented itself as one of the country’s leaders in the field of legal aid practice and clinical legal education. The University boasts with two operational Law clinics. The main clinic is situated in Hatfield in South Street and the second clinic is in Hammanskraal. The Hammanskraal clinic is run in co-operation with Legal Aid South Africa.

Hanekom prioritises the disadvantaged members of our community’s needs for legal services and its clients’ interest. “The UP Law Clinic trains final year law students on real cases with live clients. We offer free and reliable legal advice to members of the public who has little or no income, or who are indigent. Professionally qualified and experienced attorneys supervise the students. The students develop their legal skills, they experience law in operation, and they are exposed to the ethics and complexities of legal practice.”

“Apart from the students, we also employ candidate attorneys for periods of up to two years at a time to complete their practical vocational training. This gives the clinic a valuable resource as the candidate attorneys also have the right of appearance and our capacity to extend legal representation to vulnerable clients is therefore extended.”

The UP Law Clinic will celebrate 40 years of existence in 2020. Since its launch in 1980, the UP Law Clinic has proved to be a tremendous success. In 2012, the Law Clinic won a UP prize for Education Innovation. The Law Clinic renders services at grassroots level and will often provide legal solutions that may end in  trials at our local courts. This provides relief to people who otherwise are in grave danger of having no access to any form of legal assistance at all. An estimated conservative value of the free legal services provided during 2018, based on funding received by the clinic from the University itself, amounts to over R17 million. When services that are rendered as a result of outside funding is taken into consideration, the value of the UP Law Clinic’s services during 2018 rises to a staggering R 36,4 million rand.

Hanekom, who holds the degrees B. Iuris LLB LLM (cum laude), was admitted as an attorney in 1991. He obtained the right of appearance in the High Court in 1996. He has been practicing as an attorney for the past 27 years. He has for many years been an instructor teaching to candidate attorneys at the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) - Legal Education and Development (LEAD) on a wide number of subjects and currently holds the position as one of their elite core of senior instructors. His main subjects of interest include inter alia personal injury law, sports law, the law of contract, (especially the doctrine of volenti non fit iniuria), as well as general civil procedure litigation.