About the article Lawyer fasts for fees’.

It is with dismay that I read the report ‘Lawyer fasts for fees’. 

I worked with Mr Loots from 1998 to 2000, it is unbelievable that this matter has still not been resolved by Legal Aid South Africa (LASA).  Mr Loots provided labour tenants and farm dwellers with legal advice and saved many households, who had rights, from being thrown off farms onto the side of the road.  

I remember one case in Vryheid where in the middle of winter the farmer, who was drunk at the time with some friends, started bulldozing the homes of the labour tenants on the farm.  This while there were supposed ‘negotiations’ taking place to settle the matter.  That night a young woman died, because she went into premature labour on the side of the road.  The Land Claims Court ordered that they return to the farm and the farmer pay compensation.  When the labour tenants returned, the farmer threatened everyone at gunpoint and the SAPS had to be called. 

Defending these cases was not about the money, corporate clients would pay more than LASA, but about defending those that needed legal protection.  LASA should just pay the money, it is way overdue.