SA’s Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for championing peace and international law

South African judge Navi Pillay, 85, claimed the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, 9 October, for her dedication to promoting peace and international law, as declared by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Pillay held nations and their leaders accountable and offered hope to those who suffered from violence and conflict, displaying a strong moral principle throughout her career.

The committee noted that Pillay's journey began with her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid, and continued through her service as a judge in crucial international court cases. The Nobel Committee highlighted Pillay's commitment as a common thread from her early activism to her most recent contributions.

Pillay chaired the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza last year. However, Israel labeled the report as "scandalous". The prize is the fifth Nobel to be awarded this week, following literature, chemistry, physics, and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the award this year.

The Nobel Peace Prize, valued at 12 million Swedish crowns (approximately R20 million), will be presented in Oslo on 10 December, commemorating the death anniversary of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the awards in his 1895 will.