Navi Pillay joins SA’s Nobel Peace laureates at 85
JOHANNESBURG — The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has welcomed Navi Pillay’s selection as the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, celebrating a South African legal career that moved from defending anti-apartheid activists to holding senior positions in international justice. The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Pillay, 85, joins Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk among South Africa’s Nobel Peace laureates. President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated her on Friday, describing the award as recognition of her courage, integrity and lifelong commitment to justice.
In its statement, the Kathrada Foundation highlighted Pillay’s defence of political prisoners and her later service as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It said the award recognised sustained work against injustice and the protection of vulnerable people, rather than the pursuit of political prestige.
The foundation also recalled her delivery of its second annual lecture in Johannesburg in October 2011, when she was serving as the UN’s human rights chief. It linked that relationship to her continuing work against racism, intolerance and discrimination.
Pillay’s international career included service at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she became president, and as a judge at the International Criminal Court before taking up the UN post. The foundation singled out her contribution to landmark jurisprudence recognising rape and sexual violence as acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Her more recent work has drawn both support and criticism. Pillay chaired the UN commission of inquiry whose report concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejected. The commission’s determination is separate from a final judgment by an international court.
The Nobel Committee framed the award around the importance of international law at a time when legal institutions face mounting pressure. Pillay received news of the honour while attending a legal conference in Nuremberg, Germany, and dedicated it to survivors of international crimes and those working to defend international justice.
Ramaphosa said her achievement should also encourage South Africa to create opportunities for people to develop their abilities and contribute to society. “She has served humanity with principle and the belief that the world can and should be a better place,” he said.
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