For the past nine years ProBono.Org, in partnership with Norton Rose Fulbright SA (NRF), has had a half-hour slot on Radio Today every second Thursday evening. The aim of the programme is to inform the public about the Bill of Rights and to discuss broader constitutional issues. We have been fortunate to have had a wide range of expert guests from law firms, academia and civil society who have covered topics from consumer rights, children’s rights, labour and housing law.
We are particularly grateful for the fact that Patrick Bracher of NRF has been the host of this show since its inception in 2007. His knowledge of the law and the Constitution, his dedication to the programme and his ability to draw out and put our expert speakers at ease contribute enormously to the success of the show.
We would like to thank NRF for promoting the work of ProBono. Org in this way, for bearing the costs of the time that Patrick puts into the programme and the advertising costs.
Here is a sample of the guest speakers and the topics we have covered so far this year:
- 18 February: Pierre de Vos, UCT Department of Public Law: Nkandla – what should have happened but never did.
- 12 May: Glenn Penfold, Webber Wentzel Attorneys: The rules and principles that apply to governmental decision-making.
- 9 June: Karabo Ozah, an attorney at the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria, discussed the importance of children’s rights and how some of the rights are currently being violated.
- 23 June: Nikhiel Deeplal, Chair of Students for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ): The relevance of June 16th 1976 to today’s students and whether the rights demanded then have been realised, even though they may be written into the Constitution, e.g. the right to education, the right to protest, the right of freedom and security of the person and the right to equality.
- 4 August: Lisa Vetten from the Wits Institute for Social & Economic Research (WISER): Rape and sexual harassment, with reference to the current frustrations at South African universities and other institutions around the lack of policies and procedures for reporting and dealing with complaints against alleged perpetrators.
- 15 September: Bulelwa Mabasa, Werksmans Attorneys: Can the right to property coexist with land reform?
- 29 September: Patrick Bracher hosts Odette Geldenhuys of Webber Wentzel, who spoke about consumer rights and in particular the recent Concourt judgment in respect of emolument attachment orders.
Radio Today is broadcast on 1485 AM, on DSTV audio channel 869, www.1485.mobi or www.1485.org.za. The show airs from 18:30 to 19:00 on alternative Thursdays. Podcasts of all our programmes can be found on the ProBono.Org Facebook page.
