JOHANNESBURG - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Judge Navi Pillay says winning the prestigious award is a huge honour, but admits it feels “lonely” as she follows in the footsteps of fellow South African laureates Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk.
Pillay is the only woman among the group.
“It’s a great honour and I appreciate the significance of the focus on international justice and my work,” she says.
The 85-year-old was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month in recognition of her work championing human rights. She has headed the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and served as a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last year, she accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Pillay gained international prominence for her outspoken condemnation of government repression during popular protests in the Arab world, including in Libya and Syria. She is also a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Between 2021 and 2025, she chaired a commission of inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pillay is currently serving as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case examining whether Myanmar’s crackdown on the Rohingya breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. A ruling is expected in the coming months.
While other South African figures have been honoured with statues, Pillay says she is opposed to such tributes, joining others who have criticised the practice.
“The rest of the world is throwing out the statues, they have a graveyard for statues,” she says.
Pillay also described her disbelief when she first learnt she had won the Nobel Peace Prize, saying she had received no prior indication from the institution.
“What was I to believe when I was in this conference in the Nuremberg Courtroom 600 where the Nazis were tried?” she says.
She says the audience heard the announcement before she did.
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“So it’s social media and I said no, I want to verify first, it might be a hoax,” she says.
It was only after watching footage of the announcement and hearing her six decades of work acknowledged that she accepted the news was genuine. She says the recognition of her work also helped justify the award.
Pillay says she has not yet spent the prize money or even checked how the Norwegian krone converts to the rand. She plans to consult others on how best to use the money to promote and protect human rights.
Asked about US President Donald Trump’s reaction to her win, including his criticism of the award, Pillay said she was surprised.
“I am surprised, you don’t expect that from a leader,” she says.
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She added that Trump had not been flattering when he said the award had been given to a liberal.
“He wasn’t flattering when he said ‘they gave it to a liberal’, which I always thought was a compliment,” she says.