By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
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.
Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy at Mokgoro’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.
Her service was attended by a number of prominent figures, including Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Zondo labelled Mokgoro as the embodiment of constitutional values.
“As many speakers have said, she was humble, loving, caring and hard-working. The fact that Justice Mokgoro was the Justice of the Constitutional Court was not something that was always in her mind. Justice Mokgoro had the same respect for everybody.”
Constitutional Court Justice Steven Majiedt told mourners that Mokgoro was also a great teacher.
Majiedt said Mokgoro leaves behind a long legacy of selfless service.
“We were abundantly blessed to have this child of the Northern Cape to guide and lead SPU during those development years. She was one of South Africa’s very best. “
“I have no doubt that Sol Plaatjie, a feminist as one can see in his well-known novel, would have nodded with the strongest approval to Justice Mokgoro’s contribution to his home city, province and country”.
At the same time, human rights activist Mark Heywood said Justice Mokgoro would be remembered as someone who lived a constitutional life.
“A sense of what marked her out was not just her fine judicial reasoning, but that for her, the South African constitution was an instruction not just about law but about life and living. The constitution was an ethical code, which she lived.”
The distinguished legal trailblazer was born in Galeshewe, Kimberley, in the Northern Cape.
She completed her Bachelor of Law Degree (B.luris), the Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Masters of Law (LLM) at the University of Bophuthatswana (now known as the North West University) and was appointed as South Africa’s first black female justice of the Constitutional Court in 1994.
She served for 15 years at the apex court.
Mokgoro, during her legal career, taught a number of law courses at universities in South Africa, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
She was a member of the International Women’s Association (Washington DC), the International Association of Women Judges, the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the South African Women Lawyers Association. In 2006, she was selected as an icon of the history of Women Lawyers in South Africa.