Samantha N. Ngcolomba is an attorney who has a deep-seated desire to secure justice for South Africa’s most vulnerable women. (Images: Redbull Amaphiko)
Women in rural communities have a new law hero and she goes by the name of Lady Liberty.
Lady Liberty, founded by attorney Samantha Ngcolomba, a human rights lawyer based in Johannesburg, travels to poor and remote communities with a mobile office to provide pro bono legal information and services to women.
The office focuses on domestic violence, namely getting protection orders; marriage, namely customary vs civil; and divorce, namely process, asset distribution, maintenance and children’s rights. It will add wills, housing and labour law to its services soon.
Lady Liberty’s impact so far.
“Any law that doesn’t work for the people it’s intended for, is as useless as medicine locked up in a cupboard while people needing it suffer,” Ngcolomba told Redbull Amaphiko, a platform for social change makers.
Lady Liberty uses social, print and broadcast media to find women who need its services, and to raise awareness of what it offers. At the identified communities, a half-an-hour presentation of relevant topics is held and the floor is opened for questions.
Then, the office takes on new and pending cases for resolution on behalf of women who qualify for pro bono assistance.
The programmes vision is to have an app for smartphones that will extend the reach of their legal services and information.
Watch Ngcolomba talk about Lady Liberty:
You can contact Lady Liberty on 076 520 1377.
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