South Africa’s Labour Courts will enjoy free Wi-Fi connections thanks to a partnership between electronic information provider Sabinet and G-Connect.
The G-Connect Wi-Fi service will be available in most areas of the courts, including courtrooms, judge chambers, libraries and pro-bono rooms.
The service – which has already been installed in the Johannesburg Labour Court – is funded by Sabinet, in a bid to improve access to the Internet and online content, such as Sabinet’s products, in courts.
“It will help those involved in the labour courts to effectively make use of information such as that contained in Sabinet’s range of online legal products,” said Rosalind Hattingh, Managing Director of Sabinet. “We strongly believe that fast and efficient connectivity to updated online information has become essential for members of the law fraternity to carry out their daily duties.”
Echoing this sentiment, Carel van der Merwe, chief executive officer of WirelessG added: “We are honoured to provide our G-Connect services to courts with a partner like Sabinet. Sabinet is recognised as a leader in online legal information, and our partnership will indubitably improve operational efficiency and online research availability to the members of law fraternities.”
The offering sees the pro-bono office of law courts benefit significantly, given that the costs incurred by the free service providers will be cut.
“[The South African Society for Labour Law (SASLAW)] is very grateful to Sabinet for installing WiFi in the Johannesburg pro bono office. The attorneys on duty will be able to send e-mails on behalf of the pro bono clients, and to have access to the Internet for information and research. The SASLAW administrator uses e-mails and the Internet, and SASLAW will benefit from not having to spend funds on a 3G card,” said the pro-bono advice office of SASLAW.
