Legal Aid Let Me Down

I am disappointed in the service legal aid gave me. I tried to contact legal aid during lockdown several times and I got no response. I also went there. In fact it was made out that I never tried to get legal assistance. When I did manage to get help I did not feel well represented by their lawyer at all in fact I ended up feeling persecuted and victimized. I am in the process of divorcing my husband and I do not have funds for a lawyer. I was thus referred to legal aid in order to be represented, I went to the branch in Benoni. There was very little communication from the start. Before my first hearing I was there 4 times where I handed to them all the necessary documents. I was informed that they will be in contact with me. My legal representative did not make contact with me at all before my first hearing, they told me to look out for an Indian woman at court. During the first court hearing the lawyer did not inform the judge that I have been to legal aid and attempted several times to meet with someone and discuss my case. My representative prematurely without looking at my file told the judge that a settlement can be reached, without consulting with me about this. The judge ended up ruling that I must pay for my husbands lawyer for the day because my representative from legal aid said she only had a few days to review the case. She also said she would like to go on holiday before reviewing the case formally. At that point the judge declined this and decided to postpone until August. I do not even have the name of the lawyer who represented me, she was an Indian woman with a heavy foreign accent. My representative informed me later on the day that we need to meet on the 21st to discuss the case. On the 21st of July when I met with her she apologized for being dismissive of me during the first hearing; we roughly discussed a settlement that she thinks will be the best. She did not meet with me again until about 3 days prior to our next hearing when she phoned me. My husband had sent in an opposing settlement that I mas not happy with at all. Before the hearing my representative tried to convince me over the phone that I must take the settlement proposed by my husband saying I must be appreciative of this as some woman walk away with nothing. My husband hid money away and used our savings and shares during the past 2 years of our separation; my representative said I must just let this go as it's already gone. She also threatened that I already ended up being responsible for the previous hearings fees and it can happen again. I also tried to explain to her that I have put a protection order in place and wanted to meet with her to discuss this. She said she is too busy to meet about it. I struggled to understand her and English is not my first language, and her accent made it more difficult, I did inform her of this, she was quite defensive about that. She said she will look into obtaining an Afrikaans speaking person. On the date of my second hearing at court she informed me they do not have Afrikaans speaking lawyers. I was very unhappy and did my own research. During the second hearing my same representative used it against me and made it seem like I cannot understand English at all calling in a interpreter to interpret every word said. I at that point I decided to begin speaking for myself and informed the judge that I do understand English I struggle to understand her and the legal terms. I do not feel like she reviewed my case properly because if she did she would have opted for a CEV case that someone at court told me would be more appropriate for me. The judge responded saying that this is what legal aid is supposed to be for. At that point my representative looked down shamefully and did not speak further and waited for the judge to finish, where after she withdrew from the case. The case was postponed again.