By OBAKENG MAJE
The Heartfelt messages of condolences continue to pour in after the passing of a retired ConCourt Judge, Justice Jenifer Yvonne Mokgoro. On 3 April 2023, a South African jurist, was seriously injured in a car accident in the Northern Cape.
After she was discharged, her family announced that she would step back from her public engagements in order to focus on her recovery. However, she died on 9 May 2024, at the age of 73.
According to Wikipedia, Mokgoro served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa from October 1994 to October 2009. She also chaired the South African Law Reform Commission between 1995 and 2011.
“Mokgoro qualified as a lawyer in the former Bophuthatswana and was a legal academic before she was appointed to the bench by President Nelson Mandela. She was born in Galeshewe Township, near Kimberly.
“Her parents had only a primary education, and she was the first of her siblings to complete high school after matriculating at the local St. Boniface High School in 1970. Her first jobs were as a nursing assistant, a retail salesperson, and then as a clerk in the Bophuthatswana Department of Justice,” said Wikipedia.
It further said in Mokgoro’s early 20s, she was arrested for obstruction of justice after she intervened to object when the police arrested a young man for loitering. Wikipedia added that, although the charge against her was dropped after a brief detention, she was represented by political activist Robert Sobukwe, a family friend who was banished to Kimberley and was one of the few black lawyers in the town.
“According to Mokgoro, Sobukwe encouraged her to become a lawyer, and she enrolled part-time in legal study shortly afterwards. Balancing her legal study with her full-time work and young children, Mokgoro attended the University of Bophuthatswana (now the North West University), where she completed a BJuris in 1982 and an LLB in 1984.
“On campus, she was active in the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and African National Congress (ANC), which are both anti-apartheid organisations,” said Wikipedia.
It says while studying for her LLB, Mokgoro worked at the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court as a maintenance officer and public prosecutor.
Wikipedia says after receiving her LLB, however, she was appointed a lecturer in the University of Bophuthatswana’s Department of Jurisprudence, where she worked until 1991, rising through the ranks to become an associate professor.
Meanwhile, the North West University (NWU) principal and vice-chancellor, Prof Bismark Tyobeka said: “The NWU community mourns the passing of Mokgoro – an outstanding alumna, and respected law practitioner. Among her various qualifications, Mokgoro obtained her B Juris Degree (1982) and Bachelor of Laws (1984) from the University of North West (now the North West University).
“The NWU honoured her with an Alumni Excellence Award at the inaugural NWU Alumni Excellence Awards ceremony in 2013. She was an exemplary alumna of the NWU, whose outstanding work has been recognised and celebrated by many institutions in South Africa and abroad.”
Tyobeka said Mokgoro held 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.
“Law has been her passion and her endurance to ensure that all South Africans have access to fair treatment in our courts, made her even more special. She raised the NWU flag very high.
“Our current students and other alumni can learn from her determination and achievements. We join her family, former colleagues, and friends in mourning her passing, and celebrating her contributions to South Africa and her people,” he said.
TaungDailyNews 