Veteran anti-apartheid activist and former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota has died at the age of 77.
Image: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers.
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation has described the late Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota as a leader who answered the call of history and confronted apartheid with unwavering resolve.
Lekota, the co-founder and former leader of the Congress of the People (COPE), died at the age of 77 earlier on Wednesday after a period of illness, the party confirmed.
COPE deputy leader Teboho Loate said the Lekota family had requested privacy during this difficult time.
“The Lekota family has requested privacy during this difficult time, and the party asks the public and media to respect their wishes,” Loate said.
“The party will be issuing media statements regularly to inform the nation about developments.”
He added that details regarding memorial arrangements and tributes would be communicated in due course.
“On behalf of the leadership, membership and supporters of COPE, we extend our deepest condolences to the Lekota family and all South Africans who mourn this loss,” Loate said.
Lekota served as Defence Minister for nine years from June 1999 to September 2008 under former president Thabo Mbeki.
He was among cabinet ministers who resigned after the African National Congress (ANC) recalled Mbeki from office in September 2008 following the party’s highly divisive ANC Polokwane conference.
In protest against Mbeki’s recall, Lekota later “served divorce papers” on the ANC and helped form COPE.
Before that, he had served as the ANC’s national chairperson for a decade.
In August 2022, Lekota revealed he had been battling prostate cancer.
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation said it was deeply saddened by the loss of a man it described as “a fearless son of the soil who gave the greater part of his life to the cause of freedom, justice and the dignity of all South Africans”.
“There are lives so fully given to a cause that when they end, one feels the tremor in the foundations of the house they helped to build. Such was the life of Mosiuoa Lekota,” the foundation said.
Tributes have poured in following the death of Mosiuoa Lekota, the co-founder of the Congress of the People and former defence minister, who died on Wednesday after a long illness.
Image: Picture: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers
The foundation pointed to the words of German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht to describe Lekota’s lifelong dedication to the struggle against apartheid:
“There are those who struggle for an hour and that is good. There are others who struggle for a year and they are better. There are those who struggle many years and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: these are the indispensable ones.”
The foundation said the quotation captured the life of “Terror” Lekota, noting that he belonged to the rare group of individuals who gave everything to the struggle of the South African people.
“His life was the very embodiment of selfless dedication to freeing his people from the yoke of apartheid oppression,” it said.
“It can be said without fear of contradiction that our victory over that brutal system would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment of indispensable patriots like him.”
The foundation added that Lekota confronted the apartheid regime with determination while also helping build a democratic South Africa.
“History demands much of those who dare to confront it, and Mosiuoa Lekota answered that call at every critical turn in our nation’s journey. He threw himself against the brutal machinery of apartheid with relentless force,” it said.
“Yet he also possessed the quiet discipline required to forge a new, inclusive South Africa when the time finally came. His conviction never wavered.”
Lekota was first imprisoned in 1974 under the Terrorism Act and spent several years on Robben Island, where the late former president Nelson Mandela and other senior ANC leaders were also held.
After his release, he was arrested again in 1982 for his role in the United Democratic Front (UDF), a major umbrella organisation comprising hundreds of groups opposing racial segregation.
He was later charged with treason in what became known as the Delmas Treason Trial.
After a lengthy trial, he was among 11 people convicted, but the sentences were later overturned by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa.
The foundation also recalled a letter Lekota wrote to his young daughter from prison.
“Above all then, my dear, I am in prison for the sake of peace for our country and the world. I am in prison so that our generation may leave to yours and later generations a country and a world that has the greatest potential for progress.”
The foundation said Lekota sacrificed his youth and endured years of detention so future generations could inherit a country free from racial supremacy.
“When he repeatedly emerged from the crucible of the apartheid prison system, he did not seek sanctuary or rest,” it said.
“Recognising the fierce urgency of the moment, he threw himself entirely into forging broad united fronts against white minority rule.”
It added that honouring Lekota’s legacy requires defending the democratic institutions he helped build.
“To appropriately honour Mosiuoa Lekota is to actively defend the democratic institutions he helped birth,” the foundation said.
“We are challenged to ensure that the ‘potential for progress’ he envisioned in the dark of his cell translates into tangible dignity and economic inclusion for all South Africans today.”
The foundation extended condolences to Lekota’s wife, Cynthia, his children and all those who admired him.
Mosiuoa Lekota, the co-founder of the Congress of the People (COPE) and former defence minister, has died at the age of 77 after a period of illness, the party confirmed on Wednesday.
Image: File
“In losing Mosiuoa Lekota, we have lost a patriot, a principled leader and a soldier of the people. Robala ka kgotso (Rest In Peace), Ntate Lekota. The country you fought so hard to free will not forget you.”
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was in contact with the Lekota family regarding funeral arrangements.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said he had visited the family to convey his condolences.
“We will be talking to his family to see how best they would like to have everything arranged with regard to his burial,” he said, without indicating whether a state funeral was being considered.
Several former ministers, including Tito Mboweni, Pravin Gordhan, Sibusiso Bengu and Membathisi Mdladlana, were accorded state funerals.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
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