Expanding the Research Program 

CCJ is presently placing a renewed emphasis on research, aiming to attract and fund researchers and contribute to academic learning in the university. CCJ has always done research on its outreach program, and now aims to broaden this scope by using its carefully recorded database of 65,000 cases as a source of research for Masters and doctorate students.

CCJ is currently referencing its resource centre and has employed a research assistant. Two students from KZN are currently using the CCJ’s work as a case study for their Masters, while Director Winnie Kubayi is presently writing hers on the role of community support centres in providing access to justice. 

Find out more about our research program

New Partners

CCJ is planning to combine its outreach operations with CLRDC (the Community Law and Rural Development Centre). CLRDC and CCJ together run forty-five, or 80%, of the support centres in KwaZulu-Natal. The aim is to establish a single program where CCJ will be responsible for capacity-building, research, monitoring, evaluation and training, while CLRDC focus on service delivery.

Combining Economic Justice with Human Rights

CCJ aims to bring economic opportunities to the areas around the support centres and to integrate economic justice with legal empowerment. There are currently obstacles to the provision of jobs owing to corruption: jobs are given to friends and members of the same family, and depend on favours.

Coordinators will be trained in municipal laws so that they can educate communities to demand that councillors use local workers to do public work and allocate jobs fairly, including single women and low income households rather than several members of the same family. This will mean strengthening the participation and empowerment of citizens, and focusing on the accountability of the duty bearers to fulfil their obligations.