Situational Analysis
Social enterprises from impoverished backgrounds, SMME’s, small informal businesses and low-income entrepreneurs (“the small business sector”) contribute a significant portion of our Gross Domestic Product, are an imperative precursor for job creation, and stimulates economic activity from a granular level. The small business sector has been in distress for a while, but the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated it and left low-income entrepreneurs scrambling for survival.
The world Bank warns that South Africa is facing the deepest contraction in a Century. It is incumbent upon us to re-ignite economic activity from a granular level, catalysing economic transformation from the grassroots. This proposal advocates for supporting the small business sector and low-cost entrepreneurs from impoverished backgrounds with Financial Justice and Literacy. The lack of skill, funding and not affording the high cost of legal representation is a barrier to entry for the indigent. They perish as they suffer unconscious bias which deprives them of a catalogue of their legal rights without recourse. This structural disadvantage is prevalent amongst the poor, who form the majority of our population; and continues to deprive their ability to sustain their small businesses.
Notwithstanding that South Africa has an established legal aid system that enables the indigent to access legal representation at no cost to themselves; this free legal service is offered only to individuals who can prove that they are poor and cannot afford legal representation to the express exclusion of low-income entrepreneurs. In-turn the injustice deprives the fledgling small business owners of the only source of income they can muster to support their families in this realm of high unemployment. Exacerbated by the Global Covid-19 pandemic, and the experts’ projection that we face that a further 7% contraction in our economy with a staggering seven million jobs to be lost by the end of this financial year.
The proposed Transactional Law Clinic aims to address this oversight by establishing an institution that will professionally provide comprehensive social enterprise development, management thereof and Legal services for the impoverished community enterprises.
Motivation
South Africa is the most unequal society in the world, with the widest gap between the rich and the poor. The inequality also extends to sustenance tools and opportunities (un)available to citizens, with the poor being the most deprived and vulnerable. The Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected our economy and every citizen, but again, devastated the poor the hardest. Public interest, non-adversarial transactional lawyering is the one active hope for our youth to generate tangible social change through Law. This initiative aims to legally represent small scale entrepreneurs to the private sector, financial institutions, and government institutions to empower youth to establish social enterprises to fend for themselves, towards Economic and Social Justice. Hammond and Hammond Inc. possesses requisite skill-sets and has raised sufficient international funding to advocate for financial and business literacy in social enterprises such as SMMEs, informal businesses, rural community enterprises and low-income entrepreneurs from impoverished backgrounds, through the provision of critical legal services, and comprehensive enterprise development support..
Vision, Mission and Goals
Vision
“to be a reliable contributor towards Social and Economic Justice."
Mission
As a non-profit law practice, we aim to effect systemic change in the interests of equality, fairness and justice; by building an active citizenry that has full access to legal and financial resources and opportunities necessary to uplift the small business owners and their social enterprises from their current state of impoverishment.
Goals
Renewed focus and support for small businesses to eradicate poverty and youth unemployment in South African communities.
Address structural disadvantage for under-served and under-represented communities to promote self-reliance and self-sustenance.
Highlight the role of Transactional Law Clinics as a vehicle to promote Economic and Social Justice.
Forge and manage a stronger social contract between citizens, business and the government to stimulate economic activity from a granular level.
Meet The Incorporators
Anele Hammond
Com (Hons) Financial Management (UCT); CPR (Unisa); Baccalaureus Legum (LLB)(Wits); DPM (Wits); PCIM(Wits); MAP (Wits); MCom (Financial Management) * (UCT); Master of Business Administration (Strategy)(St Gallen University); ISP (Strategy)(St Gallen University); Ph.D. (Financial Management) and (Public Policy and Development Management)(Wits). PhD Candidate (Foundation Law) University of Zurich.
Adv. Niña Hammond
Baccalaureus Legum (LLB)(Wits) PLT (L.E.A.D) PMT L.E.A.D)
