South Africa’s state-funded legal assistance system is facing mounting financial and staffing pressures, with Legal Aid South Africa warning that budget constraints are making it increasingly difficult to find further savings without affecting service delivery.
The organisation’s 2025/26 integrated annual report shows that it assisted 616,707 people during the financial year, compared with 628,213 the previous year. New civil matters declined from 49,004 to 45,279.
The report also highlights capacity pressures in its Civil Legal Services Unit, where workloads continued to exceed practitioners’ capacity.
Legal Aid SA has reduced its recruitment target to 85% of its staff establishment for 2026/27 as it grapples with budget cuts. The organisation has also introduced cost-containment measures and approached National Treasury for additional funding.
The organisation reported that 99.9% of qualifying civil applicants who had been granted legal aid received assistance. However, that figure does not account for applicants who failed to qualify.
Parliament raises concerns
The financial pressures were highlighted during a meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on October 7, when Legal Aid SA presented its annual performance report.
The committee heard that budget cuts had forced the organisation to stop further recruitment, affecting the number of courts it could service and increasing practitioners’ caseloads.
Legal Aid SA has maintained an establishment of about 2,530 employees against an approved establishment of 2,856 over the medium-term expenditure framework period.
The recruitment target was reduced from 90% to 85% because of budget constraints.
Committee chairperson Xola Nqola acknowledged the funding pressures and said the committee would engage with the Portfolio Committee on Appropriations to highlight the institution’s financial needs.
Limited room for further savings
Legal Aid SA’s financial challenges extend beyond recruitment. Its annual report says personnel costs account for most of its expenditure, leaving limited scope for additional savings through cuts to other operating costs.
The organisation is reviewing its service delivery model to direct available resources towards areas of greatest need.
The pressures also affect the availability of private practitioners through its Judicare system, which enables qualifying clients to receive state-funded representation from private legal practitioners. Previous reporting has highlighted how funding constraints have reduced Legal Aid SA’s ability to refer qualifying matters through the system.
Legal Aid SA’s report shows that internal practitioners delivered 98.5% of its legal services during 2025/26, while Judicare practitioners accounted for 0.69%.
The organisation reported that 99.9% of qualifying civil applicants who had been granted legal aid received assistance. This figure does not, however, establish how many people were refused assistance because of financial or staffing constraints.
Legal Aid SA’s funding challenges come as it continues to deal with a labour dispute with the South African Lawyers and Allied Workers Union (SALAWU).
The union has lifted strike action but says its outstanding demands remain unresolved. Legal Aid SA, meanwhile, has said it has engaged with the union since the strike and remains committed to resolving outstanding matters through the appropriate labour-relations processes.
The organisation confirmed that strike action took place on June 17 and 18, with normal working arrangements resuming on June 24. It acknowledged that services had been disrupted but said contingency measures allowed operations to continue and that subsequent delays had been addressed.
With further budget constraints limiting its options, Legal Aid SA faces the challenge of maintaining access to legal assistance for people who cannot afford private representation while managing its available resources.
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