Azar Cachalia: Yvonne Mokgoro leaves behind a legacy of collegiality

Yvonne Mokgoro was for most of her tenure one of only two women on the Court, the second-youngest member and the first black woman ever to be appointed a judge in South Africa, and one of the few academics appointed, writesThose appointed to South Africa’s first Constitutional Court in October 1994 faced enormous challenges.

It is in this last respect that Constitutional Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, who sadly died last week aged 73, played a vital role. It is no secret that the first bench of eleven constitutional justices had in its ranks some outstanding jurists with stellar careers both as advocates and judges before appointment. They were intellectually of the highest calibre, exceptionally hard-working, highly individualistic, and used to the often brutally frank cut-and-thrust of curial questioning and debate.

Yet, the establishment of a collegial team spirit gradually asserted itself too under the leadership of Arthur Chaskalson so that after about seven years, the Court presented itself as a highly functional and effective governing body at the head of the judiciary without sacrificing individual brilliance. Yvonne Mokgoro's innate and abundant warmth, concern for others, strong sense of justice, and friendliness must have played a critical part in fostering such a collegial culture.

For some of her colleagues and doubtless many of those who appeared before her as counsel, this may have been viewed as a disadvantage, but she met the challenges squarely and did not resort to defensiveness or sharp rebuke.The importance of her role in the Court was no more evident than in the aftermath of Judge John Hlophe’s unwarranted intrusion into the Court's work in early 2008.

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Yvonne Mokgoro Death

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