Free legal help finder

You have a legal problem and no money for an attorney. That is the ordinary position in South Africa, and the country is better set up for it than most people think. The difficulty is not that free help does not exist. It is that it sits scattered across dozens of bodies, each with its own front door, and nobody tells you which door is yours.

What this tool works out and who it is for

You answer three questions. What the problem is about, from fourteen options. Who has it, you or your business. And whether there is a deadline in the next few days.

The finder returns a numbered list of the free services worth trying, in the order worth trying them, with what each covers, what it costs and, where there is one, a phone number, plus any warnings your answers call for.

It is for anyone without an attorney who is not sure whether they need one, and for anyone who would rather not pay for something a tribunal will do for nothing. It is the interactive version of our free legal help page.

How the finder decides

The tool matches your problem to the bodies built for it, adds two routes always worth trying, then raises warnings based on your answers. The first entry is usually the body set up specifically for that problem, and it often resolves the matter without an attorney.

The fourteen problems, and the body the law set up for each

• Losing your job, or a problem at work. The CCMA or your bargaining council, where an unfair dismissal, an unfair labour practice and a retrenchment dispute are decided. Then the Department of Employment and Labour, because unpaid wages, hours, leave and notice are a different complaint.
• Child maintenance, custody or contact. The Maintenance Court at your nearest Magistrates' Court, where a maintenance officer investigates and you speak for yourself. Then the Office of the Family Advocate.
• Domestic violence or harassment. Any Magistrates' Court, on any day, for a protection order. Then the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre on 0800 428 428, then the police.
• Being evicted. The Rental Housing Tribunal in your province, because no eviction is lawful without a court order. Then a law clinic or Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110, because eviction under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 is a civil matter Legal Aid takes on.
• A rental deposit or a dispute with a landlord. The Rental Housing Tribunal, then the Small Claims Court.
• Debt, credit records or debt collectors. The National Credit Regulator on 0860 627 627, the National Financial Ombud Scheme, then the Council for Debt Collectors.
• A bank, insurer or credit provider treating you unfairly. The National Financial Ombud Scheme, which now covers what several separate ombud offices used to handle.
• Faulty goods or poor service. The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, the National Consumer Commission, then the Small Claims Court.
• Being charged with a crime. Legal Aid South Africa. Tell the court at your first appearance that you want a lawyer and cannot afford one.
• Money someone owes you. The Small Claims Court, where no attorneys appear on either side.
• A visa, asylum or immigration problem. Lawyers for Human Rights, the Scalabrini Centre, then the South African Human Rights Commission.
• The conduct of a police officer. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate, then the Human Rights Commission.
• The conduct of an attorney. The Legal Practice Council, which investigates complaints and holds the register you can check to confirm an attorney is genuine. Then the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund.
• A government department or municipality. The Public Protector, then the Human Rights Commission.

The two routes it always adds

Whatever you choose, the finder ends with Legal Aid South Africa and a university law clinic. Legal Aid is there because it does far more civil work than people assume, and because the only way to find out whether you qualify is to ask. Most universities with a law faculty run a clinic, staffed by supervised students and qualified attorneys, and clinics take on matters other services will not.

If the problem belongs to a business

Answer that the problem is your business's and the tool tells you plainly that Legal Aid South Africa assists people and not companies, and that a company cannot use the Small Claims Court. It also says what remains open: the ombud schemes and the regulators still take complaints from small businesses in many cases.

If you say there is a deadline

Say that something is due in the next few days and the tool raises a warning that has nothing to do with saving money. Free services can be slow, and some legal deadlines are short enough that missing one ends the matter. Where a deadline is days away, paying an attorney for a single hour to protect it is usually cheaper than losing the claim. For domestic violence or a criminal charge it also gives the emergency numbers: the police on 10111, and the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre on 0800 428 428.

Why it holds no thresholds and no fees

The finder deliberately stores no means-test figures, no claim limits and no fee tables. Every figure in this area is set by notice and goes stale quietly, and a stale figure would tell somebody they do not qualify when in truth they do. That is the worst failure a tool like this could have.

The law behind it

Most of these bodies exist because a statute created them. The CCMA comes from the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The Rental Housing Tribunal in each province comes from the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999, which also governs deposits, inspections and unfair practices in residential leases. The National Consumer Commission enforces the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. The Small Claims Court comes from the Small Claims Courts Act 61 of 1984, and a protection order from the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998.

The Legal Practice Council and the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund come from the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014. That Act is why an attorney must be on a public register, why client money must sit in a trust account, and why there is a fund to compensate you if it is taken. And in a criminal case the Constitution gives an accused person the right to a legal practitioner at state expense where substantial injustice would otherwise result. Legal Aid is how that right is delivered.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Nomsa moved out of her flat six weeks ago. Her landlord has kept the whole R8 000 deposit and says the flat needed repainting. She chooses "a rental deposit or a dispute with a landlord", "me, as a person", and no deadline.

The finder returns four free routes. First, the Rental Housing Tribunal in her province, free, which decides landlord and tenant disputes including deposits, and whose ruling is enforceable like a court order. Second, the Small Claims Court, free, for a money claim brought by a person with no attorneys on either side. Third, Legal Aid South Africa, free if she passes the means test, on 0800 110 110. Fourth, a university law clinic, free.

No warnings appear, because she is not a business, there is no deadline and this is not a violence or criminal matter. The notes tell her to try the routes in order and to take a folder with the lease, the correspondence and a one-page timeline. She should start at the Tribunal, having worked out her figure with the deposit refund calculator.

What this tool does not decide

It does not decide whether a particular service will take your matter. Each body has its own rules about what falls inside its jurisdiction, and Legal Aid South Africa applies a means test it sets and changes from time to time. The finder routes; it does not assess.

It does not decide whether you will win, what you might recover or how long it will take, and it does not read your documents. Nor can it tell you whether "free" in a particular office means advice or representation, which is the most useful question to ask at the counter.

When to get advice, and the free route

Start with the first route on your list and be organised about it. Take the contract, the letters, the payslips or the photographs, plus a one-page timeline. Ask what the next step is and by when, then confirm it in writing.

The free route is wide. The Rental Housing Tribunal charges nothing and its rulings bind. Legal Aid South Africa is on 0800 110 110. The CCMA is on 0861 16 16 16 and charges nothing to refer a dispute. Read how much does the CCMA cost and how to refer an unfair dismissal before you go, and do I qualify for legal aid if you have been charged.

Pay for an attorney where a deadline is about to expire, where you are being sued for a large amount, where a criminal charge is serious, or where the other side has lawyers.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information rather than legal advice. Check with the service itself before you rely on anything here.

Frequently asked questions

Does free legal help mean somebody will represent me?

Not always. Some of these bodies advise you and help you fill in forms; others appear for you. The CCMA, the Small Claims Court and the Maintenance Court are free because you are expected to speak for yourself, and the clerks help with the paperwork. Legal Aid and the law clinics do represent people.

I was told I earn too much for Legal Aid. Is that final?

Ask for the reason in writing. Applications based on out of date information do get reconsidered. Either way, keep working down the list: a law clinic runs its own test, and the tribunals and ombud schemes do not test your means at all.

Can my company use any of these?

Some of them. A company cannot use the Small Claims Court and does not qualify for Legal Aid South Africa, which is why the tool says so as soon as you choose "my business". The ombud schemes and the regulators still take complaints from small businesses in many cases.

My problem is not on the list. What then?

Choose the option closest to it and treat the result as a starting point. Legal Aid South Africa and a university law clinic appear on every result for this reason. A clinic will tell you where a problem belongs even when it cannot take the file.