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JUSTICE YVONNE MOKGORO

Personal details

Yvonne Mokgoro was born on 19 October 1950 in Galeshewe Township near Kimberley. She is married and has four children: three boys between the ages of 19 and 23, and one 10-year-old girl.

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Education

Mokgoro matriculated at St Boniface High School in 1970. She obtained a B luris degree at the University of the North West in 1982, an LLB two years later and an LLM in 1987. She also attended the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, which awarded her an LLM degree.

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Professional history

Mokgoro worked as a nursing assistant and later as a salesperson before her appointment as a clerk in the Department of Justice of what was then Bophuthatswana.

After she completed her LLB she was appointed a maintenance officer and public prosecutor in the Mmabatho Magistrate's Court.

In 1984 Mokgoro began lecturing in the Department of Jurisprudence of the University of the North West, where she rose through the ranks to become an associate professor. From 1992 to 1993 she served as an associate professor at the University of the Western Cape. She then moved to the Centre for Constitutional Analysis at the Human Sciences Research Council, serving as a specialist researcher in human rights.

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Other activities

Throughout her legal career, Mokgoro has written extensively and has presented papers to and has participated in many conferences in South Africa and abroad, mainly in sociological jurisprudence. Her focus has been human rights, customary law and the impact of law on society generally and on women and children specifically. She has served extensively as a resource person for non-governmental and community-based organisations and initiatives.

JSC interview

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