KMBT_C654e-20201120121220

This supporting affidavit, deposed by Disha Govender on behalf of the Ndifuna Ukwazi Trust (NU), seeks the admission of NU as the fifth amicus curiae in a High Court case (A155/19). The document outlines NU's mission to advance urban land justice and human rights in South Africa, specifically through a multipronged approach combining litigation, research, and community advocacy. It argues that the legal model used by public interest law centres—acting in their own interest, the public interest, and on behalf of clients—is essential for accessing justice and realizing constitutional rights, and that any ruling against this model would adversely impact NU's work.

• Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) is a non-profit Trust and accredited law clinic established in 2011 to promote "social justice, equality and human rights for people living in South Africa and beyond".
• NU employs a "multipronged and people centred approach" to advance urban land justice, which includes litigation, rights-based education, research, media advocacy, and community organising.
• NU provides pro bono legal representation for individuals and communities, particularly in "eviction matters and landlord-tenant disputes", to protect the security of tenure for poor and working-class residents facing gentrification and rising rents.
• In the 'Tafelberg Case' (Adonisi & others v Minister of Transport and Public Works, Western Cape and others), NU successfully challenged the Western Cape Provincial Government's decision to sell well-located state land in Sea Point, resulting in a structural interdict requiring the government and City of Cape Town to report on steps to fulfil obligations to redress spatial apartheid.
• In the 'Vogue Case' (Trustees for the time being of the Ndifuna Ukwazi Trust v City of Cape Town and Others), a settlement declared that the Municipal Planning Tribunal and the Appeal Authority of the City of Cape Town are empowered to impose conditions requiring the provision of affordable housing for land use applications.
• NU argues that its practice of litigating in its own interest, the public interest, and on behalf of clients is a necessary method for public interest law centres to advance the "transformative constitution project" and that allegations of conflict of interest regarding this model would "materially and adversely impact NU’s work".

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). KMBT_C654e-20201120121220. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fifth-Applicant-Amicus-Curiae-Supporting-Confirmatory-Affidavit.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. KMBT_C654e-20201120121220. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fifth-Applicant-Amicus-Curiae-Supporting-Confirmatory-Affidavit.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=KMBT_C654e-20201120121220 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fifth-Applicant-Amicus-Curiae-Supporting-Confirmatory-Affidavit.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrightsndkmbtc654e20201120121220, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{KMBT\_C654e-20201120121220}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fifth-Applicant-Amicus-Curiae-Supporting-Confirmatory-Affidavit.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }