Hon Deputy Speaker, we rise in support of changes that are to be made to the legal aid regulations. The aim of providing legal aid through public funds is fundamentally intended to broaden access to justice but also to harness fairness in our judicial system, specifically in our criminal justice system.
The proposed amendments to regulations relate only to the criteria in terms of which an applicant may qualify for legal aid and more specifically the means test. While members of the portfolio committee were at first apprehensive about the possible exclusionary effect of an increase in a monthly income applicants must enjoy in order to qualify for legal aid, we were assured that the increase is purely based on inflation and were still ensured that roughly 70% of South Africans will qualify for legal aid based on the current income levels.