CENTRE FOR COMMUNITY JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT (CCJD)

CCJD was established in the 1980s under the University of KwaZulu-Natal during the apartheid era, initially to protect the rights of communities denied access to formal legal systems. It has since grown into a fully independent NPO — but still maintains a research partnership with UKZN — and today coordinates one of KwaZulu-Natal's most important rural justice infrastructure networks: 15 community-based advice offices spread across the province, each embedded close to the communities they serve.

The model is deliberately proximity-based: CCJD's advice offices are located strategically within police stations, magistrate's courts, and traditional courts — so that a person in a rural KZN community who has just reported a domestic violence incident, or who needs a protection order, does not have to travel far or navigate a bureaucratic maze to get legal support. They can walk into the same building and access trained advice office staff immediately.

Their vision is simple and powerful: access to justice for all.

What They Offer Survivors and Communities

Free Legal Advice — Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Labour, Grants CCJD's 15 community advice offices provide free legal advice across a wide range of issues. The main areas addressed include domestic violence (including help navigating protection orders), child abuse, labour rights violations, and entitlement claims such as pensions and social grants. For rural KZN communities where formal legal services are geographically and financially inaccessible, these offices are often the only available legal support.

Mediation Where disputes can be resolved without formal legal proceedings, advice office staff offer mediation — reaching outcomes that are faster, less costly, and often more appropriate to the community context than court processes.

Counselling and Psychosocial Support Beyond legal advice, the advice offices offer counselling services — recognising that survivors of domestic violence and child abuse need emotional as well as legal support to navigate their situations.

Community Education and Awareness CCJD conducts community education programmes — building legal literacy and awareness of rights among people who have historically been excluded from formal justice systems.

Negotiation with Service Providers CCJD advice office staff negotiate on behalf of clients with service providers — whether government departments, employers, or others — ensuring that people with limited power and resources are not simply turned away.

Training and Capacity Building CCJD provides training, mentorship, and guidance to its network of advice offices — building the capacity of paralegal staff across rural KZN to deliver consistent, quality services to their communities.

Research Programme In partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, CCJD conducts research on community justice issues — contributing to the evidence base for policy change.

CCJD is based at 16 Dulwich Road, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KZN. Their website (ccjd.org.za) is currently undergoing a strategic update. Follow them on Facebook: The Centre for Community Justice and Development.