Labour law is, at its most fundamental, the law of working people. Yet for most of the workers it is designed to protect, its provisions remain inaccessible — written in language that assumes legal training, administered through processes that assume resources, and enforced through forums that assume the ability to navigate institutional complexity. The gap between what the law provides and what ordinary working people are able to claim is one of the most persistent challenges in the South African labour relations landscape.
From 2013, Advocate Dlamini has served as a regular guest presenter on Thetha FM (100.6), a Johannesburg community radio station with a substantial listenership in working-class and peri-urban communities. His broadcasts have addressed the labour and workplace issues most commonly encountered by workers without access to legal representation — unfair dismissal, workplace rights, the dispute resolution process, and how to navigate interactions with employers, bargaining councils, and the CCMA.
The format — accessible, practical, and responsive to the questions of callers — reflects a deliberate commitment to reaching people where they are. Legal advice dressed in technical language serves lawyers. Legal education delivered in plain terms serves people. It is the latter that this contribution has always been about.
Making the law legible to the people it is meant to protect is not a supplement to legal practice — it is one of its most important functions.
