Pro Bono lawyer of the year takes on the sharks

30 September 2016 - 09:23 By Shelley Seid

Odette Geldenhuys has a deep hunger to fight for the legal rights of others. Sometimes she does it through the Constitutional Court. Other times it is through the big screen.Geldenhuys, described as South Africa's answer to activist Erin Brockovich, has been fighting for the rights of the poor and the powerless for decades.Her most recent victory was the landmark Constitutional Court judgment which changed and clarified the law on emoluments attachment (garnishee) orders.In recognition of her work Geldenhuys was named the 2016 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year by the International Bar Association.She is the first lawyer in Africa to receive the award."I got involved when the Stellenbosch Legal Aid Clinic informed me that hundreds of lowly paid workers - cleaners, security guards and so forth - were faced with exorbitant emoluments attachment orders. We formed a group of 16; all these cases had been given unaffordable loans by credit providers."Geldenhuys, a senior associate in the Pro Bono practice at Webber Wentzel, said her goal in life is "to enable the poor and the vulnerable to have access to justice".When she is not fighting for the rights of the poor, Geldenhuys is a documentary filmmaker whose work reflects a passion for fairness and equity.Her most recent work The Shore Break is a documentary about a proposed titanium mine on the Transkei's Wild Coast. It has won a slew of local and international awards including best feature length documentary at the 2015 International Environmental Film Festival in France.And why does she fight so tirelessly for the legal rights of others?"It is like a deep hunger to do what I was born to do," said Geldenhuys...

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