The client was the grandmother of a minor child who was the centre of a custody application. She was seeking assistance with an application for rescission of judgment after a default judgment was granted against her at the juvenile court, in favour of the child’s father. Both parents were living in South Africa and the child was living with the grandmother, taking turns to visit her parents during school holidays. During the December holiday the child went to visit her father, but instead of returning her before schools opened, the father made an application to the juvenile court seeking custody, alleging the child had run away from her mother and that he was not allowed to see the child. Although the grandmother had been served with the application for custody, she attended the wrong court and by the time she realised this a default judgment had already been granted by the Juvenile Court. The LRF lawyer attended court with the child’s grandmother and mother, who had come from South Africa. The application for rescission was successful and the matter for custody was re-heard, with custody being granted to the grandmother and the father awarded rights of access. Comment: This case highlights the plight faced by many people who are not familiar with courtprocedures. If the LRF had not come to the rescue of the child her education and life would have been disrupted as her father had stated in court his intention to move the child to South Africa, despite not having a stable income. The LRF assisted a client to apply for a protection order against her mother-in-law and for custody of her son who had been taken without her consent. Our client N was physically disabled and speech impaired. She was married and the couple had two children together. The mother-in-law chased our client away from her homestead, stating that she wanted her son to marry an able-bodied woman. She had been forced to leave her children. Our client won her case in court and was reunited with her children at her homestead. 20 Legal Resources Foundation Annual Report 2015 Testimonials “Some of my family members want to disinherit my son … I don’t trust them. Thanks to Legal Resources Foundation now I can rest knowing that if anything happens to me my son will benefit.” “I want to thank LRF for their help; without their intervention I would have been evicted from the only place that I have ever called home. All my relatives know that I was brought up by my adoptive mother though there has never been a formal adoption. I went to the police with my issue; the police referred me to the civil court. When I went to the civil court, they advised me to go to the LRF who were able to assist me by calling my relatives. After my relatives were called in, we were able to reach an understanding and we are all happy. Thank you LRF. Whenever I meet someone in need I will tell them about the LRF. Thank you so much!” “We want to thank you so much for your help; the land committee gave us a portion of our plot.” Case Highlights An elderly Bindura woman, a victim of domestic violence for the past 21 years, approached the LRF after an outreach session on domestic violence. The husband was in the habit of disposing of property without consulting her and he now wanted to sell the house in which she was living. She was successfully assisted to apply for an interdict to stop the sale, as well as a protection order. A woman who had raised her late husband’s children until they were adults was not rewarded for her love by her stepchildren. Upon the death of her husband, the “children”, now grown men, chased her away from her home of 15 years because she did not have a child with her deceased husband. They subjected her to such torment that she fled the homestead, onvened a round table conference and the parties agreed that she would get her property back, leaving behind livestock and property. LRF Mutoko convened a round table