Application: Freedom Under Fire

A short course for community-based paralegals

Overview

South Africa has shifted after our last elections. Three decades after democracy, inequality is worse than ever. Corruption, landlessness, failing services, and political distrust fuel growing frustration, while the country teeters on the edge of instability, caught between coalition politics and opportunistic rising authoritarian forces. But South Africa is not alone—across the globe, inequality is deepening, crises are escalating, and the powerful are tightening their grip.

How did we get here? And more importantly—where are we headed?

This course is a deep dive into the forces shaping our present and future. It unpacks South Africa’s shifting political landscape, the global rise of authoritarianism, and the intersections of freedom, African solidarity, and democratic resistance. Designed for community-based paralegals, it equips those on the frontlines of injustice with the tools to challenge power, defend rights, and navigate an uncertain future.

The struggle is far from over. Are we ready to take it on?

After the successes of the last three year’s courses, this course returns for its fourth edition. Tailored for community-based paralegals and fieldworkers, it addresses a spectrum of community needs, from gender-based violence to labor disputes. By delving into historical roots and broader democratic frameworks, Freedom Under Fire equips participants with context and insights essential for navigating contemporary challenges in social justice. This year, the course hones in on two critical aspects we’ve learned serve community-based paralegals well: intensive exposure to history, debate and theory; and practical work through case studies led by peers and specialists operating in and around law and activism.

Woven through the course are these questions

1. What do the realities that community-based paralegals deal with on an ongoing basis reveal about the texture of South Africa’s democracy?

2. How can we explain the persistent and growing inequalities and injustices that dominate South Africa today?

3. What are some of the big struggles waged in South Africa today? What do they teach us about freedom, resistance and imagination?

4. What were the freedoms promised in the past? What have we come to enjoy in the present? What are now under threat that need protecting?

Participants in the course will consider these questions, locate them historically and look at their theoretical underpinnings.

Approach

The course is residential and has two modules, each running over five days. It will complement the knowledge and experience acquired by community-based paralegals in their practice with conceptual tools designed to better understand why the South Africa we live in today, is a nightmare for so many and what can be done to change this. Between the two residential modules participants will engage in online contact, tasks and support.

A range of creative techniques – interactive games, role plays and scenario exercises, seminars, film screenings, fireside chats, reading circles, guest lectures, activist panels, discussion groups and debates – will be used in delivering the course.

Who can apply:

Participants must be engaged in community paralegal work and provide legal assistance and dispute resolution services to communities on a range of issues.

In selecting the participants, Tshisimani will consider geographic spread, gender, age and period of service to the community. We will make every effort to draw participants from different age groups and with different levels of experience, aiming for a diverse mixture in the learning space.

Participants are expected to commit to attending the entire duration of the course, which runs over two blocks: the advice office or place of work needs to approve leave for the applicant to attend these two residential modules.

Module Dates and Details

Online Briefing session for prospective applicants: 11 April at 2pm

This is an online information session via Zoom where Tshisimani staff will run through what to expect from the course in terms of content, logistics, where it will take place and who it is intended for.

Module 1: Sunday 25 May – Friday 30 May

Module 2: Sunday 26 October to Friday 31 October

An expression of support from your community advice office or organisation is mandatory so we can ensure you have leave for these dates.

Space is limited to 25 participants.

Course summary:

Module 1: Promises of freedom: past and present challenges

Sunday 25 May – Friday 30 May

Why do poverty, racism, and inequality persist decades after democracy and where do we see them today? This first module takes a deep dive into history, theory, and current affairs to unpack South Africa’s systemic injustices—tracing colonial conquest, segregation, and economic exploitation to reveal how race, class, and gender shaped today’s society. Through debate and co-learning, participants will critically examine post-1994 political and policy choices while engaging with contemporary struggles for freedom in 2025. By the end of this module, participants will gain a strong intellectual and experiential grounding to analyse power, inequality, and the gains and losses of freedom faced by communities.

By the end of this module, participants would have grappled with:

1. What were the key demands of ordinary people in the struggle against apartheid?

2. What do these realities reveal about how our society functions, who rules South Africa today, different group interests and the nature of the post-1994 state?

3. In what ways are the everyday issues that community-based paralegals deal with linked to unfolding struggles for dignity and freedom?

Module 2: Paths to liberation

Sunday 26 October to Friday 31 October

This module moves from theory to action—exploring strategies for radical change and tackling real-world case studies. Participants will work individually and in teams to analyse pressing social and economic crises, applying knowledge from Module One to workshop responses. Through debate, guest seminars and engagments, and hands-on learning, this module sharpens the tools needed to navigate power, challenge injustice, and rethink what meaningful change looks like in South Africa today.

By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

1. Critically assess the different responses to the ongoing crisis in their respective communities and in SA more broadly,

2. Map the struggles in their different communities and identify, starting with their own experience, the layers in society today that are invested in and most capable of ushering in social justice

3. Locate the role of their practice in unfolding struggles to change the nature of South African society today.

To apply, please submit the following

Submit a short bio by filling in this Google form
The leadership or official from your organisation or advice office needs to email us a letter of recommending you for the course and ensuring that you will be available. This email should include:
a) Who the official is; who you are; and that the organisation supports your application for this course
b) That you are granted leave to attend the two modules on both dates.
c) Why they believe your attendance in the course will benefit their work.

Send the email to info@tshisimani.org.za ensuring your name and the organisation you work for/with is included in the letter.
Whatsapp a short video/voice note as described below to 0737099909.