Felicia Kentridge’s vision for accessible justice lives on through the Legal Resources Centre’s Candidate Attorney Programme, a cornerstone of public interest law in South Africa.
Felicia, Lady Kentridge, was not just a trailblazer in the legal world—she was an architect of justice. A woman of extraordinary creativity for the public good, Felicia dedicated her life to creating spaces where law served not power, but people. Among her greatest contributions is the establishment of the Candidate Attorney (CA) Programme at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC)—a cornerstone of transformation in South Africa’s legal landscape. Before that, she pioneered the Wits Law Clinic, another of her living monuments, where she led the Practical Legal Studies course and oversaw the training of law students in four Johannesburg-based clinics. Her vision was simple, yet revolutionary: provide legal services to those who cannot afford them, train the next generation of ethical lawyers in real-world advocacy, and instil in them a lifelong commitment to justice. The students who passed through her hands now sit on the bench, thrive in legal practice, and shape the legal academic world—testament to the lasting impression she made. Felicia did not just imagine a just South Africa—she built the legal frameworks and institutions that would bring it to life.
It is within this same spirit that the Legal Resources Centre continues her legacy through its CA Programme—more than just a training initiative, it is a transformative space where future public interest lawyers are born. Originally created to equip Black legal professionals—those excluded under apartheid’s cruel design—the programme remains a vital tool for justice today. Public interest lawyers are more than legal practitioners. They are frontline defenders of constitutional rights, advocates for the marginalised, and watchdogs in a democratic system that still, far too often, fails its people. In a country where inequality, corruption, and structural injustice continue to shape daily life, the need for courageous, principled legal minds has never been more urgent.
Apartheid may be over, but the struggle for justice is not. Today’s South Africa still bears deep scars: in education, in access to healthcare, in land and housing, in service delivery. Where government systems fall short, public interest lawyers rise to meet the challenge. And the LRC’s Candidate Attorney Programme ensures that these warriors are not only trained—but inspired, supported, and prepared. Through mentorship, constitutional litigation, and hands-on experience in the most pressing cases of our time, the programme shapes fearless advocates who carry forward the mission Felicia envisioned.
The impact of this programme is etched into South Africa’s legal history. Its alumni include some of the country’s most distinguished legal minds: Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Advocate Kameshni Pillay, former Supreme Court of Appeal President Lex Mpati, and many others who have shaped human rights jurisprudence and fought relentlessly for the vulnerable. At the LRC itself, the programme has nurtured leaders like Cameron McConnachie, head of our Education Programme, and Wilmien Wicomb, head of our Land and Environmental Justice work—both products of this legacy and both relentless in their pursuit of accountability and equity.
Every year, new candidate attorneys enter our offices filled with passion and purpose. They bring with them the hopes of a better South Africa—and leave equipped to turn those hopes into reality. They are the future defenders of the Constitution, and in many ways, its last line of defence. As long as people suffer without recourse, and systems fail those they were meant to serve, public interest lawyers will be there. And thanks to Felicia Kentridge, the LRC will always be a home that nurtures them.
Felicia’s work laid the foundations for a democratic South Africa governed by the rule of law. Today, we do not only remember her—we live her legacy, through every candidate attorney who chooses justice, every case that challenges inequality, and every client who finds hope in the law. The future she imagined is still being built—one fearless lawyer at a time.
