Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, one of the first judges appointed to South Africa’s newly established Constitutional Court after the end of apartheid and the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, died on May 9, 2024 in Johannesburg.
She died on May 9, 2024 at age 73 in Johannesburg.
The South African Presidency announced her passing in an obituary, celebrating Justice Mokgoro as a trailblazer who helped shape the country’s legal system and democratic transition over her 15-year tenure until retiring from the Constitutional Court in 2009.
Born in Galeshewe near Kimberley, Justice Mokgoro overcame humble beginnings to blaze a trail through South Africa’s legal ranks. After starting as a nursing assistant and retail worker, she obtained her law degrees through part-time study, including two master’s degrees from universities in South Africa and the United States.
Appointed as one of the inaugural Constitutional Court justices in 1994, Mokgoro was part of the group tasked with interpreting and upholding the new constitution’s human rights protections after the end of apartheid oppression.
On the highest court, Justice Mokgoro authored influential rulings protecting LGBTQ+ rights, affirming gender equality, and limiting the death penalty among other key decisions over her tenure.
She previously served as a prosecutor, law lecturer and researcher focused on sociological jurisprudence, human rights and customary law.
