The Arts Festival brings all kinds of excitement to Grahamstown, but there's more than just entertainment on offer at the Village Green this year. In case you get swept away with the merriment of Fest and land in some hot water, there will also be free legal advice and information on offer from South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The Arts Festival brings all kinds of excitement to Grahamstown, but there's more than just entertainment on offer at the Village Green this year. In case you get swept away with the merriment of Fest and land in some hot water, there will also be free legal advice and information on offer from South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The NPA is sending their representatives to Fest for the fifth year in a row, after starting with only a small gazebo in front of the Director of Public Prosecutions offices at 94 High Street, in 2007.
The aim of this was to inform the public about what the Prosecuting Authority does, so that people can learn more about it and make use of the organisation.
So from 28 June to 8 July the NPA will interact with the public, educating them about their helpful services, the different business units within the NPA and their mandates.
We will also have prosecutors who will man our stand with the purpose of assisting the public who have queries about legal issues, issues relating to maintenance, domestic violence, court interdicts and giving the public a guide to court processes, said NPA regional communications manager Tsepo Ndwalaza.
We are very excited about this event because in all the previous years it has proven to be a successful platform to educate the people about the work of the NPA, Ndwalaza said. At the stand people will be assisted with their queries on the spot and where possible some will be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for further inquiries.
Information about how to deal with sexual offences, community affairs, asset forfeiture and the NPA's specialised commercial crime unit will also be made available.
We pride ourselves in being one of the few organisations which will be at the Festival for the sole purpose of creating awareness about our programmes, Ndwalaza said. This is one of the ways of ensuring that we bring government closer to the people and bridge the gap that is evident in some of our communities.
The NPA stand will also offer some fun for young citizens, where kids can participate in a drawing competition. Entries will be available at the stall and children stand a chance of winning a bag full of NPA goodies. The stall will be open for the duration of Festival from 8am to 4.30pm.
