Yvonne Mokgoro, the first black woman to serve on South Africa's Constitutional Court, took time out from a trip to Duke University to sit down with Durham-area lawyers and judges to talk about the ability of the law to right wrongs.

"I could not leave this area with interaction with only people at Duke University," Mokgoro told the gathering Wednesday in downtown Durham. "I felt it was an opportunity to look at what people like you are doing."

Mokgoro, 58, pursued her law degree when South Africa was under apartheid, a system of legal racial segregation enforced from 1948 to 1994.

She had wanted to be a teacher, but said a former political prisoner inspired her to become a lawyer to fight the system at a time when few black South Africans could afford to do so, and even fewer women.

Already a mother and married, Mokgoro worked to put herself through school and later went on to teach at several South African universities.

In 1994, she became the first black female judge to serve on the country's Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed the same year the apartheid system was overturned, and is nearing the end of her 15-year term.

Mokgoro urged participants at the meeting, which included lawyers who work at several area nonprofits, to address inequality in the arenas of social justice, education, health care and criminal justice.

"Our courts are increasingly black, they are increasingly poor and they are increasingly male," said Durham Chief District Court Judge Elaine M. Bushfan. "Nobody talks about it."

Here is some of what Mokgoro had to say, both at the meeting and in an earlier interview:

Did you ever see yourself making it as far as you have?

MOKGORO: I never really had any idea I'd end up as a judge on the Constitutional Court. I knew and I believed that apartheid would eventually be brought to its knees. What I didn't envision is that it would happen in my lifetime.

What makes a justice system work?

MOKGORO: "We need intelligent people to be judges, but we also need judges to have the courage to make decisions that are right. It's not a popularity contest for judges. That's why you need judges who have integrity."

South Africans, despite overturning the apartheid system just 15 years ago, are often applauded for their ability and willingness to talk openly and frankly about race, in large part due to the broadcasting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in the late 1990s. What lessons do you think can be offered to communities here in the United States, such as Durham?

MOKGORO: We started to confront the idea of race. If race was the basis for apartheid in the past, then race has to be part of the transformation of society. We have to face each other. It's not easy, but you have to confront it.

What advice do you have for someone who is looking to change the way things are done in their community?

MOKGORO: If you believe that you're right, do it. Once you believe that you're right, I think that cultivates courage. It's not enough to know, what's also important is to act in terms of your convictions. If you don't believe in what you do, how do you expect other people to believe in it?"