SA's Nobel winner lauded across the world

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South Africa's Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay has been hailed around the world. Legalbrief Africa reports that the move sparked predictable outrage from the US Government which imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) shortly after the announcement. The ICC’s deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, condemned the sanctions and said they would not halt the tribunal's work. The ICC said the measures were an assault on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order. There was also vitriolic condemnation from the Israeli Government and its allied lobby networks. However, the Media Review Network noted that at a moment in history when international legal institutions face immense geopolitical pressure, the Nobel Committee has sent an unmistakable message: By honouring Navi Pillay, the world community reaffirms that accountability is non-negotiable and that universal human rights must be defended without fear or favour. The desperate noise from spoilers cannot diminish the brilliance of her career or the profound justice of this prize. The world stands with Navi Pillay – a true titan of international law.’ Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump fumed at the Norwegian committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize, saying the fact it didn’t go to him ‘is just another sign of how Norway and all these others are ripping off our country’, reports, Moneyweb.

‘This year’s laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted,’ the Norwegian Nobel Committee statement reads. The award is given to people who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind and the prize money for 2026 is set at 12m Swedish kronor (R19m). The committee in a statement said Pillay’s contribution was important to recognise, ‘at a time of existential challenges – including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time – international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity.’ TimesLIVE reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa applauded Pillay on the contributions she has made to strengthen peace, uphold human dignity and bring hope in SA and globally. ‘She has served humanity with principle and the belief that the world can and should be a better place. We are proud that Justice Pillay joins Chief Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Nelson Mandela and former President FW de Klerk in highlighting the far-reaching impact of South Africans on peace, justice and the advancement of humanity.’

Pillay, (85) who was in Germany when she received the news, reacted with stunned humour in a video that circulated on social media. ‘Being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this,’ Pillay jokes in the video. ‘I think it’s very appropriate that I’m with colleagues and friends, all of whom support human rights.’ Pillay also jokingly said to rapturous applause that ‘if you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump’. As reported in Legalbrief Africa, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handed Trump, who coveted the award, her Nobel medal in the hope he would give her political support to achieve democracy in her country. TimesLIVE reports that Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, SC, and acting judge in SA's Constitutional Court, congratulated Pillay. ‘This is precisely what the Nobel Peace Prize was made for,’ said Ngcukaitobi. ‘It is a recognition of one of the most important voices from the global South.’ Ngcukaitobi said Pillay’s achievement was hugely significant for those advocating for human rights. ‘It is also an inspiration to all of us not to despair in the face of powerful voices who stand on the might of their armies not the legitimacy of what they stand for,’ said Ngcukaitobi. SA advocate, Adila Hassim SC said Pillay’s achievement was a reward of a 'lifetime of courageous battles against injustice – of all types'. She added that Pillay had been a luminous role model for her since she started her legal studies during apartheid. ‘The Nobel Peace Prize is richly deserved. It makes me deeply proud to be South African,’ said Hassim.

In 1995, Pillay, from Durban, was elected by the UN General Assembly to be a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The UN describes her role in that tribunal as critical in groundbreaking jurisprudence on rape as genocide, as well as on issues of freedom of speech and hate propaganda. Pillay went on to work for nine years at the ICC. Her biography from the ICC reflects the grassroots of her career as the first woman to start a law practice in KZN. As a practitioner, Pillay was a defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists, including Mandela, according to TimesLIVE. She was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and, until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today Pillay is a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide. ‘In historic international court cases, she has shown that legal measures can help prevent acts of war and violence,’ the Norwegian Nobel Committee statement reads. In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee says it aims to remind the world that the rule of law – national and international – underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently.

The SA Council of Churches (SACC) joined the chorus of congratulations for Pillay, highlighting her decades of work defending human rights, challenging impunity and advancing accountability for grave injustices, reports IoL. ‘This reflects how Mzansi continues to be a light towards a more humane and just world,’ the SACC said. ‘From defending activists during apartheid to holding perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to account, Judge Pillay’s distinguished career stands as a testament to the commitment required to defend human rights, uphold the rule of law and pursue accountability for grave injustices.’ The SACC said the recognition affirms a fundamental truth: there can be no lasting peace without justice, and no justice without the protection of human dignity.

Clairwood in Durban, South Africa, is celebrating one of its proudest moments after Pillay was awarded the prize, reports The Star. Pillay, the daughter of a bus driver, has often spoken about how the people of Clairwood backed her dream of becoming a lawyer. ‘I got to university because my community, a poor community of Clairwood, was told by the school principal, “we have a girl with potential and she should go to university”,’ Pillay said in a previous interview. The community raised the money for her studies, although a teacher had once told her she would need a wealthy father if she wanted to become a lawyer. Rishi Singh, of the Clairwood Ratepayers and Residents’ Association, said Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize belonged to the whole country, but that it meant the most to Clairwood because it was where she was born and raised. Human rights organisation Black Sash said Pillay’s life’s work reflects a truth the organisation has carried since its founding in 1955, saying justice is not only written into law, but it must be realised in people’s everyday lives.