The Citizen Justice Network (CJN) trains community paralegals to be radio journalists. Our community paralegals are established, trusted activists and fighters for social change in their communities. We empower them with journalism skills necessary to help their communities and assist with access to justice.
CJN is about helping rural community members produce their own radio stories. We carefully guide the paralegals so they can broadcast their radio stories on their local community radio stations. The stories explore issues like human trafficking, domestic abuse, corruption, police violence and the abuse of inmates. Each story is based around a person who has come to a community advice office seeking help.
Primarily we want to create a network between community radio stations and their nearby advice offices. Also, we want to provide a bridge between community media and mainstream digital outlets. We promote these important stories on our website and trough our social media channels. We also find ways to republish the stories elsewhere online and feature the radio packages on nationwide radio stations so the stories have the widest possible reach. We want the stations and their listeners within this network to have access to these stories, but also those in urban centres like Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Under the guidance of our Radio Mentor based in Johannesburg, the community paralegals produce essential stories for their communities. The stories are often produced in local, African languages and without CJN these stories would otherwise be left unreported. CJN is bringing together the established networks of paralegals and community radio stations and improving their engagement with other stakeholders. We monitor how our paralegals and radio stations engage with other stakeholders in the community. For example, the police or traditional leaders. We believe the dialogues that occur from these partnerships improve people’s lives.
The final step: by monitoring the production of these stories CJN is able to identify national patterns of injustice. These patterns are used to assist our projects of community development. Our aim of holding government accountable is to be collaborative: we see our goals as raising awareness, exposing dishonesty and providing a solution to government. This could take the form of an efficient information workshop: a day where government representatives provide community members with free legal advice around a particular concern. How we choose our topics for workshops would be dictated by the stories being produced in that particular area. We would let the needs of the community be our guide for where to organize stakeholder and government assistance.
News from these communities is so valuable and yet so rarely communicated. As a country we want to know what is going on in these places and we want the people who know best to tell us. This is the strength of CJN: to empower the community paralegals (who understand their communities the best) to report to the rest of the country on issues that matter to all of us.
Contact Us
Visit www.citizenjusticenetwork.org.
Paralegal Team
Lindokuhle Sandile Macuacua
Lindokuhle joined the Citizen Justice Network as a paralegal in November 2019. He covers the Citizen Justice Network feature on KC FM, Nakupenda Drive airing every Thursday between 15:00 and 16:00. Macuacua holds a certificate in Paralegal Practice from the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) and Local Radio Journalism from the Wits Centre for Journalism.
Katlego Mofokeng
Katlego Mofokeng is a social justice activist, legal scholar and radio presenter. She graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and is currently pursuing a BA Law degree and Nelson Mandela University. Katlego is the executive producer of current affairs at Madibaz Radio and presents The Law Show on Tuesdays at 12:00. She is committed to educating the student body and empowering them to make informed decisions regarding legislation and policy development.
Sabelo Molefe
Sabelo Molefe is a charismatic and versatile radio presenter and conversationalist with a deep passion for storytelling, advocacy, and community empowerment. He is experienced in talk show host and multimedia content production, using radio and digital platforms to inform, engage, and inspire. He has a strong background in social justice, legal education, and governance training, effectively bridging the gap between policymakers, communities, and organisations.
Glenda Nukeri
Glenda Nukeri is a victim support professional at Dobsonville Human Rights Centre. She covers the Citizen Justice Network feature airing every Wednesday from 09:30 to 10:00 on Westside FM. Her skills include community outreach facilitation. She holds a certificate in Paralegal Studies: Statelessness and Access to Basic Education from The Dullah Omar School for Paralegalism.
Innocent Moloi
Innocent is an award-winning community-based paralegal and social activist. He is one of the founders of the South African Independent Human Rights Advocacy Group, a non-profit organization which seeks to promote and advocate for social justice in communities. You can catch him on #AreaCode with VOW88.1 every Wednesday between 10:00 and 11:00. He is an accredited family law mediator and a seasoned radio content paralegal for Citizen Justice Network within the Wits Centre for Journalism. One of his interests is tackling issues of statelessness in South Africa.
Lebogang Madisha
Lebogang Madisha is a devoted mother of three and seasoned senior social auxiliary worker with a passion for equipping families with essential parenting skills. As a radio journalist, she leverages her platform on Emalahleni FM to amplify the voices and concerns of the community. With her paralegal expertise, Lebogang brings a unique perspective to her work, advocating for the rights and wellbeing of individuals and families in the Emalahleni community.
Nodumo Zolta Buthelezi
Zolta is a qualified paralegal with a focus on family violence issues, conflict resolution, gender-based violence and various social justice issues. She has dealt with matters that require outside court settlement. Prior to joining the Citizen Justice Network as a paralegal alongside Highway Radio, she worked as an administration clerk in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development at the Pinetown Magistrate Court.