By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Constitutional Court judge and esteemed member of the Order of the Baobab Yvonne Mokgoro has died in a Johannesburg hospital on Thursday afternoon.
A media statement issued by the family on Thursday said the beloved sister, mother and grandmother passed away in the hospital surrounded by her loving family.
The below statement was released on Thursday night:
Justice Mokgoro was involved in a serious car accident near Kimberley in April 2023, which in turn led to further health setbacks while in hospital. As a result, she was forced to step back from her public engagement.
“Our family, and the country at large, has lost a principled servant, whose commitment to justice, will continue to shape our society,” said her son, Ithateng Mokgoro. “We remain grateful to all those who gave her support over the past difficult months, and we ask them to continue to hold the family in their thoughts and prayers.”
Further details regarding the funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course.
The former Constitutional Court Justice retired in 2009 but played an active role in legal and civil circles.
She chaired the South African Law Reform Commission and served on the benches in both Lesotho and Namibia.
Mokgoro was a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, chaired the United Nations Internal Justice Council, and took on the significant responsibility of Chairperson of the International Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law.
In addition to these professional contributions, Justice Mokgoro devoted much time and energy towards nurturing the next generation of lawyers and leaders, both as a board member of the Mandela-Rhodes Trust and through her involvement in teaching around the world, the family said.
The Justice obtained a Bachelor of Jurisprudence (B Juris) degree at the then University of Bophuthatswana (now North West University) in 1982, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) two years later, and a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in 1987.
She also studied at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, where she obtained a second LLM degree in 1990.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “Justice Mokgoro’s passing deprives our nation of a formidable intellect and impeccable jurist, who served our democracy at its very inception and through the years that followed.
“As we recall the inauguration of our founding President Nelson Mandela 30 years ago on this day, 10 May, we count his appointment of Justice Mokgoro to the Constitutional Court as one of the critical, transformative decisions he exercised in those early days of our liberation.”
As a black woman judge, Ramaphosa said Mokgoro was a pioneering embodiment of and contributor to the transformation of the country and the legal system and new jurisprudence that enabled transformation.
“Justice Mokgoro distinguished herself as an academic, a justice of our apex court, Chairperson of the South African Law Commission and as a strategic advisor to a diversity of boards in different sectors.
“Her insightful and principled counsel lives on in the thousands of legal careers she shaped in the course of her academic endeavours.
“She has left us under very tragic circumstances, and we, therefore, join the family in their sadness and their prayers that this beloved mother, patriot, leader and citizen of the globe will rest in peace, “the President said.