The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) is one of South Africa's oldest and most influential voluntary associations of legal practitioners. It was established during the apartheid era to unite lawyers committed to the struggle for democracy, human rights, and equal access to justice.
Formation
Liberation movements used political trials as a means to advance the objectives and legitimacy of the struggle. At an operational level, the legal platform gave a measure of reassurance to activists in the country and cadres from outside that they would always be able to call on lawyers when the need arose.
In practically every sphere of civic activity, political alignment and allegiance were the operative factors and turf battles among the liberation movements surfaced from time to time. This was evident in sport, culture and the labour movement. Any effort to organise the legal fraternity was not expected to be any different.
At the time of the formation of NADEL there were two lawyers organisations already in existence – Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the Black Lawyers Association (BLA). They operated in two different constituencies and with fundamentally different objectives. The LHR substantially challenged the deprivation of the freedom of movement. A substantial part of their work was the defence of people charged under the Group Areas Act and for Pass Law offences. LHR also became the defender of challenges brought to the fore by the Black Sash Movement. In the main the LHR operated within the existing legal framework. It was a body of mainly White lawyers who were willing to offer free legal service to people and organisations whose freedom of movement was curtailed. The BLA, on the other hand, focused on ways and means of challenging and changing the system. In the various projects of the BLA the central objective was to fight for the restoration of human dignity to the Black man. In the legal fraternity itself the lack of mutual respect between Black and White colleagues was evident.
A group of individual lawyers aligned to the Mass Democratic Movement formed a Steering Committee under the acronym SAADEL (South African Association of Democratic Lawyers). Members of the Steering Committee included the late Dullah Omar, Pius Langa, Mathole Motshekga, Mahmood Kajee, Ismail Ayob, Krish Govender, Silas Nkanunu, and Krish Naidoo.
At the inaugural meeting of SAADEL in Durban in 1986, the only order of business was the need to form another lawyers’ organisation. After a weekend of deliberations, it was decided that the SAADEL Steering Committee would work as a pressure group and engage both the LHR and BLA with a view to forming a single strong lawyers’ organisation.
At the inaugural meeting in Durban in 1987, the name of the organisation was changed to National Association of Democratic Lawyers and the acronym NADEL was adopted. Dumisa Ntsebeza was elected the first President of NADEL.
NADEL was founded in 1987 through the merger of two progressive legal organisations:
* The National Association of Lawyers for Human Rights (NALHR); and
* The Association of Democratic Lawyers (ADL).
The merger brought together attorneys, advocates, academics, candidate legal practitioners, and law students who shared a common vision of using the law as an instrument for social justice and the dismantling of apartheid.
Functioning of NADEL in the Early Years
At the BGM in Cape Town in 1989 the house was once again divided on ideological lines. This time however, the lawyers aligned to the MDM had come in force and there were several members from LHR present. At the outset, two key amendments were effected to the constitution – those present would be eligible to vote and, second, voting would take place by a show of hands.
As expected the MDM aligned members won the day and filled all positions on the NEC. Prior to Pius Langa was elected President with Dullah Omar as his deputy. The BLA left NADEL at this point.
At that stage, NADEL became aware of the initiatives to release Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. Consequently, NADEL threw its weight behind the initiative for the release of political prisoners and used its platform to pronounce on a variety of issues and challenges facing the liberation movements at the time. Anything that could advance the liberation struggle fell within the purview of NADEL, and it seems that this tradition has remained with the organisation.
Role During Apartheid
During apartheid, NADEL members played a significant role by:
- Representing political detainees and anti-apartheid activists.
- Challenging apartheid legislation in the courts.
- Defending communities affected by forced removals, detentions without trial, and other human rights abuses.
- Providing legal assistance to disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
- Advocating for an independent judiciary and the rule of law.
Many NADEL members worked under difficult and often dangerous circumstances, facing intimidation and harassment because of their involvement in politically sensitive cases.
Contribution to Constitutional Democracy
Following South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, NADEL shifted its focus toward strengthening the constitutional order by:
- Promoting the values of the Constitution.
- Supporting the transformation of the legal profession.
- Advocating for access to justice for all South Africans.Encouraging diversity and representativity within the legal profession.
- Contributing to legal education and professional development.
- Participating in discussions on legal reform and constitutional development.
Many prominent judges, advocates, attorneys, and legal academics who have served South Africa's democratic institutions have been members of NADEL.