Pretoria - Legal Aid South Africa is considering whether it will invoke its rights to further appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling forcing it to pay legal fees for miners at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry.
The court, which made the ruling on Monday, did not give reasons for its decision but the miners were opposing the appeal.
Last year, Legal Aid filed an application for leave to appeal the North Gauteng High Court judgement compelling it to provide funding for the legal representation of the injured and arrested miners in the Marikana Commission of Inquiry.
However, Legal Aid argues that it has budget constraints. For example, Legal Aid said that for every R1 million paid to the miners, they would have to turn away about 200 people seeking free representation.
“We stand by our initial view that the judgement has far reaching consequences for Legal Aid SA’s sustainability.
“The impact of such an order on the finite resources of Legal Aid SA and the consequent impact on its ability to meet its statutory and constitutional duties towards indigent persons, whose rights are finally determined by courts of law, is disconcerting,” said Legal Aid SA CEO, Vidhu Vedalankar, on Wednesday.
The commission – chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam – was set up by President Jacob Zuma to look into the tragic events, which took place around the Marikana mine in Rustenburg in the North West province in 2012.
At least 44 people were killed, while roughly 70 were injured and about 250 were arrested in the wake of strike-related unrest. – SAnews.gov.za
