who was Yvonne Mokgoro?

President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the late retired Justice of the Constitutional Court, Yvonne Mokgoro, as “a champion of human rights, an outstanding jurist and an icon of gender justice”.

Justice Yvonne Mokgoro was a judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from its inception in 1994 until the end of her 15 year term in 2009

She was born in Galeshewe Township near Kimberley and matriculated at the local St Boniface High School in 1970. She studied mostly part-time, obtaining the Bachelor of Law (B.luris) degree at the University of Bophuthatswana, now North West University in 1982, the Bachelor of Law (LLB) two years later, and completed Master of Laws (LLM) in 1987. She also studied at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA, where she was awarded a second LLM degree in 1990

She started her work-experience as a nursing assistant and later as a retail sales-person before her appointment as a clerk in the Department of Justice of the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. After completion of the LLB she was appointed maintenance officer and public prosecutor in the then Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court

In 1984, she was appointed lecturer in law in the Department of Jurisprudence, University of Bophuthatswana, where she rose through the ranks to Associate Professor and served there until 1991. From 1992 to 1993 she served as Associate Professor at the University of the Western Cape, from where she moved to the Centre for Constitutional Analysis at the Human Science Research Council, serving as Specialist Researcher (Human Rights), and also lecturing on a part time basis at the University of Pretoria, until her appointment to the Constitutional Court in October 1994.

Throughout her legal career she has taught a number of courses, including, Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law Jurisprudence, History of Law, Comparative Law, Criminal Law, Private Law and Customary Law at a number of universities in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Netherlands. She has written and presented papers and participated in a myriad of national and international conferences, seminars and workshops in South Africa and internationally, mainly in sociological jurisprudence and particularly on human rights, customary law, focussing on the impact of law on society generally, and on women and children specifically. She has served extensively as a resource person in this regard for non-governmental and community-based organisations and other initiatives in South Africa and internationally.

During her academic career, she has participated in a number of research projects and held positions on the boards of a number of civil society organisations, including community-based organisations :

She served on the Advisory Committee of the South African – Canadian Linkage Project, from its inception in 1994 until it ceased operations in 2004. From 1995-2005 she was President of Africa Legal Aid, (AFLA) a civil society organisation, which provides legal aid and human rights education throughout Africa and is based in Accra, Ghana, with satellite offices in Maastricht (Netherlands) and Pretoria (South Africa). She currently serves on a number of boards, and Trusts, including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund which she chairs, Mandela-Rhodes Trust, the South African Institute where she heads the Curriculum Development, the International Committee Institute of Judicial Education, the South African Police Services (children’s) Education Trust (where she serves as Deputy Chairperson) and is a member of the African Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI). She served as Chairperson of Venda University Council from 2002 to 2009.

She also served as Chairperson of the Selection Committee of the Press Council of South Africa which appoints the Press Ombudsperson and members of the Press Appeal Board. She is honorary (emeritus) Professor of Law at the University of the North, University of the Western Cape, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, and the University of South Africa. She has been conferred with the Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) by the University of North West, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Toledo (Ohio) USA, University of the Western Cape, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits),University of South Africa and the University of Pennsylvania (USA). She is a recipient of a number of other honours and awards, including the Educational Opportunities Council scholarship to study in the USA (1989-1990) the Women’s Law and Public Law Fellowship, by Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington DC (1990), the Human Rights Award by the Black Lawyers Association, (1995) the Oude Molen Reserve Order of Merit (1995/1996), the Legal Profession’s Woman Achiever Award by the Centre for Human Rights, and the University of Pretoria (2001), University of the North School of Law Excellence Award (2003), the Kate Stoneman Democracy Award (Albany Law School, New York, U.S.A (2003), the Tshwane Outstanding Service Award (TOSA) in 2006 and the James Wilson Award by the University of Pennsylvania Law School [(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2008). She has also been appointed to serve as Special Ambassador for the University of Venda (University Council, 2009), and has been selected by the President of South Africa as an official Advocate for Social Cohesion in South Africa (2013-2018).

She holds membership of the International Women’s Association (Washington DC) and the International Association of Women Judges, the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the South African Women Lawyers Association, and in 2006 was selected as an icon of the history of Women Lawyers in South Africa.

She also served as Chairperson of the South African Law (Reform) Commission from 1995 until the end of a third term in 2011. She served as a Judge in the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) from 2011 to 2013 where her work entailed the exercise of oversight over the administration of the OCJ and the implementation of the OCJ mandate. In a nutshell the role of the OCJ entails the enhancement of the independence of the South African Judiciary as per Section 165 of the South African Constitution and supportive laws

In January 2012, she was appointed as Chairperson of the Independent Panel of Experts to investigate the circumstance of the incident in (stampede) that occurred at the University of Johannesburg South Africa during the student’s registration and which resulted in the death of a parent, reporting to the University Council.

She is also been appointed in 2013 to chair a Tribunal which will investigate the ethical conduct of the President of the Lesotho Court of Appeal. The investigation is currently on-going

Service on the Constitutional Court

The President was delivering the eulogy at Mogkoro’s Special Official Funeral Category 1 held at the Bryanston Catholic Church in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Mokgoro died earlier this month following an illustrious legal career which included her appointment as South Africa’s first black female justice of the Constitutional Court in 1994 – a position she held for some 15 years.

“We gather here today to lay to rest a great South African, a champion of human rights, an outstanding jurist and an icon of gender justice.

“Through her life and through her work, Imbokodo Justice Yvonne Mokgoro was a pioneer. In so many respects, her legacy is a tribute to resilience, to principled activism and to steadfastness, no matter how great the obstacle or how difficult the climb,” he said.

Mokgoro’s appointment to the Constitutional Court in democratic South Africa was born out of dedication to the legal service over many years.

She was inspired to join the fraternity by Pan Africanist Congress leader, lawyer and anti-apartheid activist, Robert Sobukwe, who represented her following arrest due to her protesting against ill treatment of young black men by the Apartheid era police in the 1970s.

“Reaching that pinnacle was not a simple progression. It did not come easy. It was the culmination of many years of hard work.

“Her appointment to the Constitutional Court was the product of many years of both formal and self-study to better herself and to advance in her chosen profession. It was the fulfilment of a dream in which she never lost faith, even while working in a host of different jobs, as a nursing assistant, a retail salesperson and as a clerk.

“It was a progression from a successful career as a legal academic when she produced ground-breaking research on customary law. This all at a time when our jurisprudence and case law around this subject were still evolving. It was an achievement that followed decades of building a rigorous and demanding career,” President Ramaphosa said.

According to the President, Mokgoro’s life as a black woman and living under apartheid and then democracy is a reflection of the lives of many black women in South Africa.

“The life of Justice Yvonne Mokgoro was the life of untold numbers of black women in this country under apartheid, who bore the triple burden of race, class and gender. She sought to carve a path for herself at a time when the odds were stacked heavily against women, and against black women in particular.

“And yet she went forth with courage, with determination, and with the humility that was her trademark. It is because she understood these struggles so keenly, because she had experienced them first-hand, that Justice Mokgoro was such a passionate and ardent advocate for gender justice,” he said.

Champion for social justice

This, according to the President, triggered the “humanism and commitment to social justice” that she brought to the bench and even after she retired.

This was reflected in her work in South Africa and abroad.

“Between 2016 and 2020, Justice Mokgoro chaired the [United Nations] Internal Justice Council, which is tasked with ensuring independence, professionalism and accountability in the administration of the justice system of the UN.

“In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in the United States in 2020, which gave birth to the global Black Lives Matter movement, the UN Human Rights Council set up an Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law-Enforcement. Justice Mokgoro was appointed as its first chair.

“As South Africa we are immensely proud that our jurists are held in such high regard internationally on matters of human rights, racial discrimination and gender justice,” President Ramaphosa said.

Turning to Mokgoro’s family, the President said South Africans “we share in your sorrow”.

“May you be comforted by the knowledge that Justice Mokgoro’s life and works continue to inspire and to guide.

“May we all have her courage. May we all have her resilience. May we all, in reflecting on her legacy, be reminded of our duty to help build a South Africa of true equality, of freedom and of human rights,” President Ramaphosa said.