ACCORD Programme

Promotion of Administrative Justice

A joint project of ACCORD, GTZ and the Justice College/Department of Justice:

The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act is a new act of parliament designed to give effect to provisions in the Constitution and Bill of Rights for fair, just and transparent governance. This site offers further information on a project to train NGOs across South Africa in the Act. Organisations can also register for participation in the project.

ACCORD was contracted in 2003/4 by the German development agency, GTZ, in partnership with the Justice College in Pretoria, to train NGOs throughout South Africa in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000.

Training for NGOs in "Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3/2000"

The Act was passed in parliament in 2000 to give effect to provisions in the Constitution and Bill of Rights that secure for the public the right to: (1) fair and reasonable administrative action; (2) access to reasons for administrative actions that affect their rights in a negative way; and (3) the right to challenge decisions that they believe are wrong. The Act has great significance for citizens of our country, because it instructs administrators to act in a manner that is fair, and respectful of our rights as determined in the constitution. In particular, it limits the powers of government, says how such powers can be exercised and ensures that government should be open, transparent, accountable and participative.

If you are a legal advice centre, a welfare organisation dealing with pensions or housing benefits, an NGO working in education, or if you are working in one of many other spheres that interact with government and the administration of the law, this new Act will impact your work in significant ways.

The Act is far-reaching, and requires major transformations in the way government is run – hence administrators, and government in general, have been slow to implement it. GTZ and Justice College have begun a number of initiatives to train both government administrators and civil society in the Act – hoping, thus, to assist in its implementation throughout South Africa. One aspect of this project is to train NGO trainers, so that they can take the message back to their organisations, and other organisations that they work with, and begin getting the message out to the public.

ACCORD delivered training to over 250 NGO-based trainers from approximately 150 NGOs between December 2003, and August 2004.

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