From freedom fighter to political leader: The life of Mosiuoa Lekota

Congress of the People (COPE) leader and former African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota has died.

The 76-year-old anti-apartheid activist, who was popularly known as 'Terror', passed away in hospital after battling a long illness.

Lekota’s political career effectively ended when COPE failed to make it back to Parliament in the 2024 general elections

He was always going to leave the political stage after the 2024 national elections.

His swansong, however, also saw his party fail to make it back in Parliament. And while it was a bitter ending for COPE, this was a far cry from the life he led.

Lekota was born in Kroonstad, in the Free State, which he eventually left for his schooling.

In the 1970s, then a student at Limpopo’s University of the North, the man named Terror – due to his footballing skills – was expelled because of his involvement in politics.

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He eventually led the South African Students’ Organisation – which ultimately saw him and eight others arrested for treason, which booked him a one-way ticket to Robben Island.

It was here where he met Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.

During his stint in prison, Lekota abandoned his Black Consciousness posture in favour of non-racialism.

Following his release, he joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) and subsequently the ANC, once it was unbanned.

When the ANC came into power, he served it in government in various capacities, including as premier of the Free State and Minister of Defence.

A staunch ally of former president Thabo Mbeki, Lekota and other loyalists started an ANC breakaway party COPE, in 2008, following the 2007 watershed Polokwane conference that ushered in the rise of former statesman Jacob Zuma.

The father of seven spent time on the opposition benches and campaigned for his organisation to make it back to the 7th Parliament, but this was not to materialise.