PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – The Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA), alongside a coalition of activists, family, and friends, today accorded Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng a heroine’s welcome upon her return to the land of her birth. Dr. Mofokeng, a distinguished South African medical doctor, has just concluded her impactful tenure as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health—a role to which she was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2020.
Throughout her career, Dr. Mofokeng has advanced intersectional analysis, has made jurisprudential and normative contributions to law and policy and public discourse on reproductive autonomy, safe abortion, sexual health, gender justice and the structural determinants of health through clinical and health systems settings. She has been unflinching in speaking out against the atrocities committed in Gaza. Her solidarity with all oppressed people using her tenure at the United Nations as a UN Special Rapporteur has been particularly exemplary. True to her mandate given to her in 2020 by the Human Rights Council,
Dr. Mofokeng, a humanitarian, consistently called for an end to the genocide, an unconditional ceasefire, and the prosecution of those responsible for war crimes. She also vocally demanded an end to the illegal occupation in apartheid Israel. In a powerful reflection in September 2025 at the UN General Assembly, she reflected on the devastation: “From a pandemic, we entered a genocide. I remain proud to be a South African, given that it was South Africa that took Israel to the International Court of Justice on the charge of genocide. It has been horrific to witness Israel bomb hospitals and health care centres. Palestinian health workers have been exhausted, harassed, arrested, and – if not killed – prevented from doing their work as first responders.
Health care facilities and health workers must be protected under international law. It is completely unacceptable that Israel has bombed so many of them, continuing to attack a healthcare system already on its knees. We allowed Israel to unlock new levels of horror that cannot easily be undone. This is medicine under attack. A stark example of medicide.”
Today, we celebrate the return of our sister and comrade. Her courage has not only brought honour to South Africa but has also amplified the voices of the oppressed on a global stage. As we welcome Dr. Mofokeng home, we recommit ourselves to the collective struggle for a just world—one free from hate, racism, sexism, Afrophobia, xenophobia, and all forms of intolerance.
Ends
Issued by The Palestine Solidarity Alliance of South Africa For media enquiries, please contact: Firoza Mayet
info@palestinesa.co.za
21 June 2026
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