The US embassy also paid tribute to Mokgoro, hailing her as a “leading voice within the legal and civil society space”.
It said Mokgoro's time and dedication to nurturing the next generation of legal minds through the Advancing Women in the Workplace mentorship programme will always be treasured by the US mission to South Africa.
“We express our deepest condolences to Mokgoro’s family, the legal fraternity and the people of South Africa. May [her] memory be a beacon of integrity and justice for generations to come,” it said.
Mokgoro was a member of the first ConCourt bench and its first black woman judge. After her retirement from the bench in 2009, she continued to play important roles in legal and civil society circles. She chaired the local Law Reform Commission and served on the benches of both Lesotho and Namibia.
She was a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, chaired the UN Internal Justice Council, and was chairperson of the International Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law.
In addition to these professional contributions, 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.
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Ramaphosa leads tributes to ‘pioneering’ justice Yvonne Mokgoro
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday led tributes to retired Constitutional Court justice Yvonne Mokgoro after her death on Thursday.
Mokgoro, 73, died in a Johannesburg hospital on Thursday afternoon.
Her family said Mokgoro was involved in a car accident near Kimberley in April last year which led to further health setbacks while in hospital. As a result, she was forced to step back from her public engagements.
Ramaphosa said he was saddened by Mokgoro's death and extended his condolences to her family and associates in the legal fraternity.
“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 president Nelson Mandela 30 years ago on May 10, we count his appointment of Mokgoro to the Constitutional Court as one of the critical transformative decisions he exercised in those early days of our liberation,” he said.
“As a black female judge, she was a pioneering embodiment of and contributor to the transformation of our country and the legal system and new jurisprudence that enabled this transformation. Mokgoro distinguished herself as an academic, a justice of our apex court, chairperson of the South African Law Commission and as a strategic adviser 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 join the family in their sadness and in their prayers that this beloved mother, patriot, leader and citizen of the globe will rest in peace.”
Chief justice Raymond Zondo extended sympathies on behalf of the Constitutional Court and judiciary.
Zondo hailed Mokgoro for her “enormous contribution to our constitutional democracy for which the country will forever be indebted to her and her colleagues in the Constitutional Court then.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mokgoro. I take this opportunity on behalf of myself, all my colleagues in the Constitutional Court and the entire judiciary to send to the Mokgoro family, including her children and extended family, her friends and relatives, our heartfelt condolences.
“Mokgoro served this country with distinction and absolute dedication. We will never forget her contribution to our constitutional jurisprudence. We will keep her children and family in our thoughts during this difficult time and give them all the support we can. May her soul rest in peace.”
The US embassy also paid tribute to Mokgoro, hailing her as a “leading voice within the legal and civil society space”.
It said Mokgoro's time and dedication to nurturing the next generation of legal minds through the Advancing Women in the Workplace mentorship programme will always be treasured by the US mission to South Africa.
“We express our deepest condolences to Mokgoro’s family, the legal fraternity and the people of South Africa. May [her] memory be a beacon of integrity and justice for generations to come,” it said.
Mokgoro was a member of the first ConCourt bench and its first black woman judge. After her retirement from the bench in 2009, she continued to play important roles in legal and civil society circles. She chaired the local Law Reform Commission and served on the benches of both Lesotho and Namibia.
She was a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, chaired the UN Internal Justice Council, and was chairperson of the International Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law.
In addition to these professional contributions, 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.
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