Overview

Zimbabwean independence in 1980 demanded a thorough revision of the way in which the law was provided in order to dispense with any form of discrimination based on race or class. The ideals and principles behind this requirement had many practical implications in terms of provision, access, information and education, as well as a profound understanding of tradition and customary law. It was these manifold challenges that gave rise to the Legal Resources Foundation. A Balancing Act: A History of the Legal Resources Foundation 1985-2015 examines the impulse, growth, development of an NGO which has steadfastly sought to bring law to the people of Zimbabwe over three turbulent decades. Through a study of its outreach, publication, advocacy and education programmes, the author, Mary Ndlovu implicitly explores the social, economic and political framework of society and the state that determined the LRF's trajectory. As the renowned jurist Reg Austin writes, 'Examined from the perspective of its ambitious objectives and the range of its activities, this study of the LRF sheds an important light on a vital part of Zimbabwe's national history. The book is an important addition to the national literature on the role of the non-governmental sector.'

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9780797476127

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Reviews

'Since inception in 1984, the Legal Resources Foundation has more than lived up to its motto of striving for justice and empowering the rural and urban poor, especially disadvantaged women, by simply making practical and invaluable information available to them. The LRF has truly walked the talk and become a shining beacon in an environment that is more polarised than ever before as a direct result of politically-induced and retrogressive socio-economic policies which the beleaguered Zimbabweans have had to endure during the last 36 years.' - Muchadeyi Ashton Masunda

Author Information

MARY NDLOVU was born and grew up in Canada, completing a first degree in history and languages at the University of Toronto and a second degree in history at Columbia University in New York. She went to a newly independent Zambia to work in 1966 and has spent most of her life since then in Zambia and Zimbabwe. After a career in secondary school teaching and teacher education in Lusaka and Bulawayo, she worked for ten years for the Legal Resources Foundation until her retirement in 2003. Since then she has worked as a consultant, researcher and writer interacting with many NGOs and civil society organisations, and served on the boards of several, including Zimbabwe Project Trust for whom she wrote a history, Against the Odds. Other of her recent publications include The Zambesi River Refrain: The Story of Basilwizi 2002-2012. She was married to the late politician and national hero Edward Ndlovu and has three children and seven grandchildren.In 1990 in honour of her late husband she founded the Edward Ndlovu Memorial Library in Gwanda which, together with its extension services in rural communities, records on average 14,000 visits each month.

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