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4mo ago

Mosiuoa 'Terror' Lekota, Anti-Apartheid Veteran and COPE Founder, Dies at 77

Tributes from national leaders follow as COPE readies memorial details.

FILE -Mosiuoa Lekota, a former defense minister and co-founder of Cope (Congress of the People), breakaway faction of South Africa's African National Congress, reacts, as he is named the leader of the new party, at the final session of Cope's three-day founding conference in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Dec. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota. Picture: Wikus de Wet / AFP
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Overview

  • COPE confirmed Lekota died early Wednesday at a Johannesburg hospital after a period of illness.
  • The family requested privacy, with the party to issue regular updates and announce memorial arrangements.
  • A Robben Island prisoner and UDF leader, he later served as Free State’s first premier, founding NCOP chair and defence minister from 1999 to 2008.
  • He left the ANC after the 2007 Polokwane split to form COPE in 2008, leading it through early gains and a long decline to zero seats in 2024.
  • Acting leader Teboho Loate remains in place as condolences arrive from President Cyril Ramaphosa, Parliament and other figures, with COPE indicating its planned elective congress could be postponed.