Legal Aid SA Budget 201819 APP 201819 Presentation

Legal Aid SA Budget 2018/19 APP 2018/19 Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Justice 24 April 2018

Content Legal Aid SA Annual Performance Plan APP 2018/19 and Budget 2018/19 1. Introduction and overview of the Strategic Plan 2015 -2020 2. Strategic Risks over 2015 -2020 3. APP 2018/19 and Budget 2018/19: Budget over MTEF; Click Performance and Staffing to Targets add title 4. Budget 2018/19 5. APP 2018/19 Programmes 6. BRRR 2017 7. Summary of Key Issues: APP & Budget 2018/19 8. Way Forward 2

1. Introduction

1. Introduction I. FY 2018/19 is the fourth year of implementation of the Strategic Plan 2015 -2020. II. There have been no changes to the strategic outcomes and objectives set out in the Strategic Plan. III. In the FY 2018/19, in the context of financial constraints facing government, Legal Aid SA faces a budget shortfall resulting from the a difference in COLI and macro increases to the budget by NT as well as a cut to its budget baseline of 5%. The combined impact of this is a R 164 million budget shortfall/cut, which is a 8, 8% reduction to the budget when compared to FY 2017/18. Click to add title IV. The APP 2018/19 is therefore focussed on managing these budget cuts with the main impacts that have to be managed being cuts to staff posts as well as cuts to delivery targets and coverage of courts. 4

2. Strategic Risks over 2015 -2020

2. Strategic Risks over 2015 -2020 I. III. IV. V. VIII. IX. Challenges to the Rule of Law. Lack of capacity to deliver on the demand for legal services. Poor quality of the legal services provided by the Justice Centres, Judicare Practitioners, Co-operation Partners, Agency Agreements. Lack of confidence in the justice system due to ineffective and inefficient processes. Budgetary reductions impacting on Legal Aid SA’s ability to deliver on its mandate. Ineffective governance structures and processes. Unethical, corrupt or fraudulent practices or acts. Inadequate IT infrastructure to support the business needs. Lack of engagement with the organisational values and culture by employees. Click to add title 6

3. APP 2018/19 and Budget 2018/19: Budget over MTEF Performance Targets Staffing

3. 1 MTEF 2018 -19 – 2020 -21 Budget Cuts over MTEF period Budget shortfall and Reduction Projected shortfall per approved budget Budget cut 2017/18 2018/19 45, 380, 9 83 2019/20 71, 504, 9 89 82, 737, 7 69 118, 231, 5 88 92, 807, 0 00 98, 005, 0 00 103, 000, 0 00 Click to add title - Total shortfall 45, 380, 9 83 % cumulative shortfall/cut 2. 5% 2020/21 164, 311, 180, 742, 7 989 69 8. 8% 8. 9% 221, 231, 5 88 10% TOTAL BUDGET CUT OVER MTEF PERIOD 2018 -19 TO 2020 -2021 IS R 566, 3 MILLION 8

3. 2 Performance Targets (Over the Strategic Plan 2015/20) Delivery Targets Criminal Legal Services For the past 3 years the average court coverage targets for DC coverage target: ≥ 83% [actual 86%] Average RC coverage target: ≥ 93% [actual 96%] HC Coverage: All legal aid matters covered Budget cuts have resulted in revised lower targets of DC: ≥ 80% and RC ≥ 90% Civil Legal Services For the FY 2017/18 target is set at 46 000. Budget cuts will result in a reduction of 2, 750 civil matters in 2018/19 with a new target of 42, 750 Legal Advice Click to add title There will be no growth, as in the past 2 (two) years. However the target will reduce by 4, 000 advice matters due to the reduction of one paralegal position due to budget cuts. Staff Recruitment For the past 3 yrs has been targeted at about ≥ 94%. In the 2018/19 recruitment target is 98% of the downsized organisational structure of Legal Aid SA. (refer staff trends below) Staff trends FY 2016/17 Total Staff = 2, 863 FY 2017/18 Total Staff = 2, 753 Staff positions reduced 110 FY 2018/19 Total Staff = 2, 656 Staff positions reduced 97 Staff reduced over 2 years by 7% Employment Equity (EE) The EE plan 2015/20 was monitored in the past 3 yrs. The possible retrenchments of 2018/19 are likely affect the EE targets negatively. 9

3. 3 Staff trends over MTEF and strategic plan period POST CATEGORY 2013/2014/2015/2016/2017 (Current) 2017/2018/2019/2020/2021 Filled posts as at Medium Term estimates as at 31 March 2017 30 September (approved staff establishment) 2017 Audited outcomes (filled posts) i. Legal professionals (legal practitioners including Paralegals) ii. Non-legal iii. TOTAL staff (recruited iv. Staff establishment at 31 March annually new/additional posts (refer to note iii) vi. Staff recruitment (against staff establishment) 2, 071 2, 160 2, 186 Click to add title staff) v. Includes 2, 039 2, 126 2, 135 135 527 547 548 562 565 554 527 2, 586 2, 619 2, 722 2, 751 2, 680 2, 609 2, 707 2, 797 2, 853 2, 863 2, 753 2, 656 656 90 56 10 -110 -97 Note 95. 5% 93. 6% 95% 96. 1% 97. 3% 98. 0% Note: A continuing reduction of the Budget over 2019/20 and 2020/21 will result in a further reduction of the salaries budgets with the consequent impact on further decreasing staffing 10

4. Budget 2018/19

4. 1 Budget 2018/19 Government grant allocation LEGAL AID SOUTH AFRICA REVISED BASELINE ADJUSTMENT LEGAL AID SOUTH AFRICA MTEF PER ALLOCATION LETTER % CHANGE – GRANT Note 5 LEGAL AID SA FUNDING FROM COMMITMEN TS 2015/16 1, 584, 805, Note 1 000 (61, 819, 000) 1, 522, 986, 0 00 4. 6% Note 2 61 819 000 2016/17 1, 669, 899, Note 1 000 (92, 728, 000) 1, 577, 171, 0 00 3. 6% Note 2 92 728 000 1, 754, 394, 000 1, 857, 149, Note 3 000 (92, 807, 000) 1, 754, 394, 0 00 11. 2% Note 5 1, 764, 342, 000 0. 57% Note 4 11, 500, 000 1, 961, 163, Note 3 000 ( 98, 005, 000) Note 3 2. 069, 043, 000 (103. 000, 000) 10, 896, 45 3, 000 (448, 359, 000) 1, 863, 158, 0 00 5. 6% 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 TOTAL Click to add title 1. 966, 043, 000 10, 448, 094, 000 5. 5% LEGAL AID SOUTH AFRICA REVISED MTEF 1, 58 805, 000 1, 66 899, 000 1, 76 894, 000 1, 775, 842, 00 0 1, 86 158, 000 1, 966, 043, 00 0 177, 54 10, 62 7, 000 641 000 Note 3: These amounts are a reduction (budget cuts) in the baseline allocation as confirmed by NT allocation letter dated 7/12/2017. Note 4: Additional funding from cash reserves in order to supplement the budget shortfall. Note 5 : the % change in the grant allocation should align to the macro increase, however the 0. 57% change in grant allocation in FY 2018/19 is reflective of the cut to the baseline as per Note 3 12

4. 2 Budget 2018/19 Managing Budget cuts 1 of 3 I. II. IV. VI. The total budget shortfall/cut from the NT MTEF Grant Allocation letters received by Legal Aid SA is a reduction of the Legal Aid SA Budget by R 164 million in the FY 2018/19 which is a 8. 8% budget cut. This increases to a projected R 180, 7 million (8, 9%) in FY 2019/20 and to R 221, 2 million (10%) cuts in the future years. This is a total budget shortfall/cut of R 566 million for Legal Aid SA for the 3 -year MTEF period 2018/19 – 2020/21. 80% of Legal Aid SA budget is spent on salaries because of the labour intensive nature of the mandate of the organisation which is to provide legal aid services to clients. The Board of Legal Aid SA carefully considered the cumulative budget shortfall/cut of R 164 million for the FY 2018/19 and its impact on the business of Legal Aid SA and agreed that the budget cuts are unworkable. The main reason for this is that the budget cuts will result in high levels of staff reduction and a consequential decrease in service delivery. Also of concern to the Board was the impending job losses. The Board noted its major concern with the reduction in legal aid services as the infringement of the rights of South Africans as enshrined in Section 34, 35(3) and 28 of the Constitution of RSA. This could potentially open the organisation and the state to legal challenges in 13 the future. Click to add title

4. 2 Budget 2018/19 Managing Budget cuts 2 of 3 In FY 2017/18 the Board reprioritised the Budget to reduce expenditure to meet the budget shortfall (resulting from NT requiring entities and departments to fund the difference between wage settlements and NT macro increases to the grant) of R 45 million by i. Reducing expenditure on performance incentive bonuses, ii. Reducing the judicare budget iii. Reducing the operating budget. iv. Containing the capital budget by extending the life cycle of assets, including computers and vehicles, beyond their normal time lines of productive use. v. Reducing the salaries budget resulting in the staff establishment of Legal Aid SA being reduced by 111 posts. This was effected by downsizing the organisational structure through freezing of vacant positions. This had a consequent impact on service delivery through the reduction of court coverage. Click to add title 14

4. 2 Budget 2018/19 Managing Budget cuts 3 of 3 In FY 2018/19 the Board further reduced the following budget items i. iii. iv. performance incentive bonuses to 1, 5% of the wage bill which resulted in a reduction of the expenditure by R 21 million. Direct expenditure R 18 million Operating expenditure R 33 million Capital expenditure R 3 million Click to add title The Board had no further option but to implement the remaining R 43, 8 million cut by reducing salaries. Its impact on staffing and service delivery is outlined in the next slide. 15

4. 3 Budget 2018/19 Impact of Budget cuts on staffing and service delivery 1 of 2 Note: Cuts to expenditure 2018/19 to fund R 164 m Budget cut/shortfall TOTAL BUDGET CUT/SHORTFALL FY 2018/19 Total Budget shortfall/ cut 164, 311, 989 Carry through shortfall from FY 2017/18 (45, 380, 983) Direct expenditure cut (17, 681, 113) Operating Budget cut (33, 394, 352) Click to add title Capital Budget cut Performance Bonus cut Salaries budget cut (2, 941, 252) (21, 044, 067) 43, 870, 222 The operating budget includes provision for the VAT increase from 14% to 15% 16

4. 3 Budget 2018/19 Impact of Budget cuts on staffing and service delivery 2 of 2 Note: Budget as per APP 2018/19 [Salaries budget cut = R 43, 8 m] Staff Category Total staff Amount posts R FY 17/18 Number of Number Posts cut of matters reduced Criminal Production -DC 893 9, 332, 323 34 9, 350 86% to 83% Criminal Production -RC 446 12, 802, 423 17 2, 975 Criminal Production -HC 109 5, 905, 510 6 300 Civil Production 237 7, 961, 037 13 3, 250 Paralegals 188 367, 175 1 4, 000 Support 491 7, 501, 755 26 Other staff categories 389 43, 870, 222 97 Click to add title Total number of 2, 753 positions and matters Total number of positions after Budget cuts Court Coverage reduction 96% to 93% 19, 875 2, 656 17

4. 4 Budget 2018/19 1 of 3 Click to add title 18

4. 4 Budget 2018/19 2 of 3 Analysis of Budget 2018/19 Expenditure Budget 2017/18 Budget item 2018/19 Salaries and related costs Direct expenditure Operating expenditure Capital expenditure Total budget Variance % change 1, 444, 774, 945 1, 480, 904, 282 36, 129, 337 3% 102, 816, 512 87, 579, 342 -15, 237, 170 -14. 8% Click to add title 250, 387, 302 229, 517, 811 -20, 869, 491 -8% 58, 909, 666 30, 056, 810 -28, 852, 856 -49% 1, 856, 888, 426 1, 828, 058, 246 -28, 830, 180 -1, 6% Note: Salaries and related costs increased by 3% instead of 7. 8%. These variances are further explained in the next slide 19

4. 4 Budget 2018/19 3 of 3 Explanation of variances 2018/19 i. The salaries for FY 2018/19 should have increased by 7, 8% due to the impact of the COLI of 6, 7% and PPI of 1, 5%. However salaries and related costs increased by 3% when compared to the previous financial year as a result of i. A reduction the staff performance bonuses by R 21 million ii. a reduction of the salaries budget by R 43, 8 million by cutting 97 staff posts. ii. Other direct expenditure decreased by 14, 8% in 2018/19 as compared to 2017/18. This reduction is due to the once off rollover funds relating to impact litigation which were included in the 2017/18 budget which is not included in the 2018/19 budget. Other line items including judicare were also reduced in order to absorb the impact of the budget cut. iii. The overall operating expenditure budget decreased by 8% due to budget constraints and the impact of the budget cut. Only operational line items with contractual obligations were increased. Non-contractual operational line items were reduced by 30, 6% as compared to 2017/18. iv. The overall capital expenditure decreased by 49%. The decrease is due to once-off rollover funding relating to projects and procurement of capital assets. These funds were included in the 2017/18 budget and not included in the 2018/19 budget. Click to add title 20

5. APP Programmes

5. 1 Client, Community, Stakeholder & Shareholder

5. 1 Client, Community, Stakeholder & Shareholder P 1 – Legal aid in criminal matters Strategy I Delivering quality client-focused legal aid in criminal matters, particularly to the poor and vulnerable Programme P 1 To deliver quality criminal legal services that are client focused within budget constraints Project P 1 -1 Access to Criminal Legal Aid services Outputs Legal Aid provided to qualifying accused persons Target 2018/19 Coverage Targets: Average DC coverage: ≥ 83% RC coverage: ≥ 93% HC Coverage: All legal aid matters covered Revised Target 2018/19 Coverage Targets: Average DC coverage: ≥ 80% RC coverage: ≥ 90% HC Coverage: All legal aid matters covered Effects of Reduction 816 court days will be reduced and will not be covered by our lawyers per month 11, 900 criminal matters will be negatively impacted on resulting in increased outstanding court rolls and backlog matters 23

5. 1 Client, Community, Stakeholder & Shareholder P 2 – Legal aid in civil matters Strategy II Delivering quality client-focused legal aid, including to poor and vulnerable groups, in civil matters with a priority focus on constitutional rights Programme P 2 Deliver quality civil legal aid services that are client-focused, with a priority focus on constitutional rights within budget constraints Project P 21 Access to Civil Legal Aid Litigation services Outputs Civil clients assisted within available capacity Target 2018/19 JC ≥ 90% of civil practitioner target calculated at 98% recruitment Judicare: ≥ 4% of JC civil matters Co-op: Based on budget allocation (based on cost per case being lower than Judicare cost per case for civil matters – unless otherwise agreed) Revised Target 2018/19 JC ≥ 90% of civil practitioner target calculated at 98% recruitment Judicare: ≥ 4% of JC civil matters Co-op: Based on budget allocation (based on cost per case being lower than Judicare cost per case for civil matters – unless otherwise agreed) Effects of Reduction 11 less civil legal practitioners available to assist clients with civil litigation matters 2, 750 civil matters will be affected, negatively impacting on clients right to have access to justice 24

5. 2 Financial Sustainability

5. 2 Budget 2018/19 Challenges with Budget I. The shortfall to the 2018/19 is as a result of the COLI that is higher than the macro increase impacts the budget adversely, resulting in the negative growth budget. II. In addition to the COLI Shortfall, the Budget cut of 5% to the baseline of R 92, 8 million results in reduced staff recruitment levels over the MTEF period. III. This shortfall further reduces the operating and capital budget. Click to add title 26

5. 2 Budget 2018/19 Challenges with Budget Communication Brand Awareness and Client Reach Legal Aid SA is currently at 60% brand awareness and budget cuts will curtail future growth, particularly impacting negatively as follows: i. iii. iv. Advertising and marketing of the Legal Aid SA brand through mainstream media. Broadcast and outdoor advertising resulting in fewer people being reached through these mediums. Annual National Brand Perception Survey will be scheduled biannually, thereby weakening the monitoring of the brand perception by the public. Limitation to the scope of languages that Legal Aid SA uses to communicate with the public, for example, we will not be able to translate our marketing and legal material in the languages that people understand. This will have an adverse effect on access to justice. Signage and branding of our offices in order to make them as visible as possible to the public will be negatively affected due to budget cuts. Retaining outdated and inconspicuous branding will result in being unnoticed, and thus fewer people will access our services. 27

5. 2 Budget 2018/19 Challenges with Budget. Internal Audit and Governance Internal Audit Department (IAD) is contemplating reducing the level of face to face audits at Legal Aid SA offices by doing more desktop audits and only visiting offices to conduct physical verification of assets and head counting to cut travelling and accommodation costs. This approach has the following disadvantages: i. Potential loss of trust by the client, that IAD took years to build; ii. Negative impact on the assessment of the control environment, as the assessment is not only transaction orientated but also entails direct observation of application of controls, management’s attitude and operating style; iii. As source documents are kept at offices, inspecting electronic instead of original documents poses audit risks. On the other hand moving original documents to National Office to be audited poses loss of document in-transit risks and delays in executing audits; and iv. Requesting information as well as explanations and clearing queries through email and or telephones might slow down the auditing process as officials will not be always be readily available to answer calls or reply to the emails as and when auditors need them. Delay in audit processes will impact negatively on the coverage of the audit plan. 28 Click to add title

5. 3 Internal Business Processes

5. 3 Internal Business Processes P 13 – Financial Management - SCM Strategy X Programme P 13 Project Outputs Target 2018/19 Sustain strong financial management, supply chain and asset management practices To maintain a strong supply chain management framework and practices P 13 - Supply chain management 1 Quarterly reports on acquisition of goods/ services in excess of R 0. 5 mil indicating compliance with PPPFA, PFMA and relevant NT regulations Non contractual expenditure budget of about R 40 million Capital budget of about R 33 million Revised Target 2018/19 Non contractual expenditure budget of about R 28 million Capital budget of about R 30 million Effects of Reduction Operational budget reduced to bare minimum Assets lifecycles stretched beyond acceptable standards 30

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning P 14 – Staffing Strategy XI Consolidate and review the national footprint to ensure access to legal aid services, especially in rural and remote areas (including the use of technology as well as other low cost service alternatives) Programme P 14 Project Outputs Appropriately staff all service delivery points P 14 - Review and develop staffing plans to meet operational requirements for Legal and Support 1 positions Recruitment statistics at >98% Target 2018/19 Organisational structure with staff component of 2, 753 positions Revised Target 2018/19 Staff component reduced to 2, 656 positions Effects of Reduction Staff retrenchments and failure to meet Constitutional mandate in legal aid services 32

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning P 15 (I) – Employment Equity 2016/17 33

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning P 14 – Staffing I. Ongoing budget cuts result in the ongoing reduction in funded posts. II. Staff reduction by attrition has been introduced with potential retrenchments due to continued reduction. III. The continued reduction in staff numbers will lead to an erosion of the Legal Aid SA human capital footprint and business model which will severely compromise the availability of Legal Aid SA services. IV. Salary scales will have to be revised due to the pressures created by the unaffordable OSD salaries and the commensurate cost of living adjustments. V. Staff Bonuses have been reduced by 50%. VI. Professional Membership Fees have been reduced by 100%. VII. Reduced Employee Costs erode the Employment Value Proposition – a reduction in the EVP results in lowered staff morale and engagement which negatively impacts on productivity. 34

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning P 14 – Staffing Talent management programmes have been significantly reduced in line with budget cuts. This includes: Change Management, Achiever Awards, Training, Bursaries, Leadership Development, HIV Aids, Labour Relations and Employment Equity. The likely negative impacts are: i. The ability to manage change, reward and recognise outstanding performance. ii. Lowered staff morale and engagement which negatively impacts on productivity. iii. Legal Aid SA’s ability to attract and retain motivated and engaged employees. iv. Negative impact on the maturity growth path of the organisation. 35

5. 4 Employee & Organisational Capacity & Innovation & Learning P 16 – Maintain a modern IT Platform A stable and reliable IT platform for the organisation provides assurance of accessible data and information by stakeholders. The budget cuts have the following negative effects on Legal Aid SA’s IT platform: i. The lifecycle of IT hardware is extended beyond their best practice standards e. g. computers will be used for 5 yrs. This has an impact on the warranties of hardware and systems availability and stability. ii. There will be limited level of system digitisation and insufficient integration to Integrated Justice System. iii. Further enhancements in line with the business growth may not be possible on e. LAA, which will hinder the core competencies of the organisation resulting in low level of maturity and unsustainable delivery of quality services. iv. Organisation falling behind with technological advancements resulting in legacy systems with high security vulnerabilities. 36

6. BRRR 2017

6. BRRR Report on legal aid assistance in land matters Information received from the Chief Land Claims Commissioner indicates: I. Current legal aid Regulations excludes assistance with claim lodgment and investigation which may have to be amended. II. The Land Rights Management Facility (LRMF) means test is similar to the current Legal Aid SA means test. III. Information on the current LRMF tariffs that are used to remunerate practitioners have not been made available to us. IV. No Information was provided on the 325 Land Restitution matters before the Land Claims Court. V. There are 6, 900 outstanding claims from 1999 that must still be processed and the extent of potential litigation is unknown. VI. There are 164, 000 claims that were lodged in the period July 2014 to July 2016 which cannot be worked on in terms of the CC Judgment finding the amended legislation unconstitutional. The potential extent of legal 38 representation is not determinable. Click to add title

6. BRRR Report on legal aid assistance in land matters VIII. The DRDLR is in the process of amending the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 which is aimed at providing for the establishment and the operation of the Land Rights Management Board and the Land Rights Management Committee. The Amendment Bill has been approved by Parliament and is awaiting the signature of President. In terms of this amendment the Board must create a mechanism for the provision of legal assistance and legal representation to affected persons in terms of the Act and formulate a means test governing situations in which the Board will fund legal assistance and mediation. IX. During the Cheadle Thompson period there were 1, 863 ESTA cases requiring legal representation in just under 7 years. That is an average of 276 cases a year but the highest in any year was 450 in 2009. 1, 412 of the cases related to evictions or threatened evictions. X. The ‘hotspot’ provinces during the Cheadle Legal Service Project were Free State, Western Cape and Mpumalanga. XI. The Commissioner did not advise on expenditure but from PMG Minutes it appears to have cost R 185, 496, 134. IX. A new service provider was appointed in July 2016 and the contract is still in place until June 2018. 1, 434 new cases have been taken on until November 2017 and 227 matters have been finalised. 625 of these cases are evictions. X. Currently the ‘hotspot’ provinces are KZN, Free State and Western Cape. XI. From August 2016 to November 2017 an amount of R 130, 401, 038 has been paid across to the service provider and R 99, 982, 763 has been paid out. This leaves R 39, 418, 275 of the budget available. 39 Click to add title

7. Summary of Key issues: APP 2018/19 and Budget 2018/19

7. Summary of Key Issues Legal Services Delivery i. Constitutional Rights on legal assistance The reduction in legal aid services will amount to an infringement on the rights of South Africans as enshrined in Section 34, 35(3) and 28 of the Constitution of RSA. This could potentially open the organisation and the state to legal challenges in the future. ii. Relief Capacity Our limited relief programme at 33 of our local offices was discontinued at the beginning of FY 17/18 because of budget cuts in the previous FY. iii. Backlog Matters The reduction in the budget will result in a further 816 lower court days per month not being covered by Legal Aid practitioners, which will result in many courts not being able to function. The impact of this will be an increase in the number of backlog matters, especially in the lower courts. Click to add title iv. Legal Quality Legal aid practitioners will experience increased pressure as they have to take on additional work to close the void left by discontinued posts. Matters will take longer to finalise, leading to an increase in the number of backlog matters. Increased monitoring and supervision will be required on practitioner performance to ensure that quality is not compromised due to increased workloads. v. Civil legal aid The reduction in budget will result is Legal Aid SA having to reduce the number of civil legal practitioners by 11. This reduction will equate to at least 2, 750 less clients having access to justice in civil matters. The result will be that clients are unable to enforce their rights/claims impacting negatively on their lives. 41

7. Summary of Key Issues Support Services Delivery i. Finance and budgeting Legal Aid SA will have a budget shortfall as well as a 5% reduction to the baseline in the MTEF 2018 -2021 period which totals to a shortfall of R 152, 179, 860 (7, 8%) in the 2018/19 financial year, R 180, 742, 769 (8, 9%) in 2019/20 and R 221, 231, 588 (10%) in 2020/21. ii. Staffing and Capacity a) The downsizing of the organisational structure will result in staff reductions of 91 positions for the 2018/19 FY. b) Staff reduction by attrition has been implemented. Beyond this staff retrenchments may be required if attrition does not result in reduced numbers. c) Talent programmes will be significantly reduced impacting negatively on the maturity growth path of the organisation and in lowered staff morale and engagement leading to less productivity. d) Legal Aid SA’s ability to attract and retain motivated employees will be negatively affected. iii. Operational Budget The budget lines have been cut to the bare minimum and any further cut will make the organisation ineffective. iv. Capital budget Assets lifecycles have been stretched and sweating them beyond the limits set will lead to failures of operations. 42 Click to add title

8. Way Forward As set out above the budget cuts have impacted Legal Aid SA negatively and will result in a reduction in legal aid services to the public. Legal Aid. Click SA requests the Portfolio to add title Committee to recommend to National Treasury that it reviews the MTEF 2018 -2021 budget allocation of Legal Aid SA in order to reinstate the baseline allocation of 2017/18 to the level it was at before the cuts, that is, reverse the 5% cut to the baseline of Legal Aid SA grant allocation. 43