Faranani Paralegal and Advice canter is situated at House no 48 Makaza Street in Sauslville 0008. The Centre will be accessible to every member of the community of Saulsville and its surrounding areas of Tshwane; however, our scope of work is not limited by where our offices are situated.

The Centre recognizes that despite the vulnerability of young people to different social ills, they are also the best resource for changing the course and path to socio-economic justice. Since 2019, the Centre’s programmatic areas have been youth leadership training, literacy and popular education, women’s empowerment and development, Peace and Anti-racism education, and economic justice. With the growth of its peace and anti-racism education activist movement throughout the country, the scourge of GBVF pandemic had begun to impact on its activity, particularly amongst young people.

The envisaged project is a one-year program that will be piloted in identified communities within the City of Tshwane in Gauteng Province. It is a Peace, Human Rights and Anti-Racism program that will involve the training of youth, especially young women on Capacity Building and community development, increasing their capacity and abilities to provide gender sensitive and quality support, increasing access and reach of gender sensitive prevention, care and support for young people in pilot communities.

Youth will be trained to be trainers/facilitators and provide on support on the establishment of self-help projects to become self- reliant and improve the quality of family nutrition. Our daily scope of work includes the following:

Our Paralegal Centre will play an important role in giving Basic Legal Advice to people, thereby ensuring that their rights are protected. Where necessary we refer matters to Attorneys that we work with closely. In Employment disputes (particularly unfair dismissals), we assist clients to complete Application forms in order to have their Cases dealt with by the commission for conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. Assistance can also take the form of referring clients to have certain legal problems to the appropriate Government Departments or protection such as:

With the use of negotiations or Mediation, Paralegal centres are in a good position to resolve disputes between members of the community and Government officials. Mediation requires Special Skills, a good understanding of the people and the ability to remain neutral and unemotional.

Millions of People are dependent on state grants and pensions. Resulting in from a combination of red tape, inefficiency and incompetence, grant or pension beneficiaries are sometimes deprived of their benefits. There has been a steady increase during the past years of often violent protests against poor service delivery or neglect. Faranani Paralegal and Advice centre play an important role in diffusing such situations through a variety of methods. Such methods may include the following:

 Negotiating on behalf of the Community,

 Mediating between the community and the state organization,

 Lobbying with Government officials and Politicians including members of the national Assembly, the Minister of Chairperson of the relevant Portfolio committee,

 Approaching the office of the public protector and o organizing petitions.

Paralegal centres assist in the development of communities by helping them to establish organizations through which people can acquire skills and generate employment and income. Paralegal advice centres render developmental assistance in various ways including the following:

Giving advice on the various legal structures that can be used to regulate community groups Drafting a constitution for a legal structure chosen, and advising and providing training on accountability, the functions and powers of office bearers, financial management and budgeting.

 The registration with the Social Development as an NPO; fundraising and the writing of proposals.

The successful achievement of the Values set out in the founding principles of the Constitution supposes that communities have the necessary knowledge of its contents, the meaning of rights and the application of rights to everyday situations. When it comes to Laws and legal rights, there is a supposition that a prior understanding of such rights will often prevent people from having legal problems in the first place.

The high incidences of murders, sexual and domestic violence, intolerance, discrimination based on race, HIV status, gender, sexual orientation, culture and class, indicates a disturbing lack of acceptance of the values of South Africa’s Constitution and the norms of society. Mere knowledge of rights and responsibilities cannot be sufficient to bring a change in behaviour. The acquisition of knowledge must go hand in hand with the process of instilling such knowledge. Inculcation presupposes a process through which information is analysed critically, where there is an honest exchange of ideas and opinions, within an environment that supports respects and tolerance of the opinions of others. Thusa Lushaka Paralegal and Advice will play a role in informing and engaging communities in contentious issues and in inculcating respect and tolerance of the views of others.

We will also represent Employees who have been subjected to Disciplinary Hearings and also follow up on matters of employees who have been unfairly dismissed in their places of work.