COPE Founder And Anti-Apartheid Stalwart Mosiuoa Lekota Dies Aged 77

Congress of the People (COPE) founder and veteran freedom activist Mosiuoa Lekota has died at the age of 77.

Lekota passed away in a hospital in Johannesburg in the early hours of Wednesday after a prolonged illness, SurgeZirc SA learned.

Born in Kroonstad, Lekota became politically active at a young age, a path that would shape decades of resistance against apartheid and later public service in democratic South Africa.

Early Anti-Apartheid Activism And Imprisonment

Lekota was expelled from the University of the North due to his involvement in student politics and the Black Consciousness Movement.

As an organiser for the South African Students’ Organisation, he was arrested in 1974 and imprisoned on Robben Island, where many anti-apartheid leaders were held.

After his release in 1983, Lekota was again detained during the 1985 Delmas Treason Trial.

From Democratic Government To Founding COPE

In the post-apartheid era, Lekota served as Premier of the Free State and later as South Africa’s Minister of Defence, playing a role in shaping the country’s early democratic institutions.

In 2008, he co-founded the Congress of the People, positioning the party as a breakaway from the ANC amid internal divisions.

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Lekota’s death closes a chapter on a life marked by sacrifice, political leadership and a lasting imprint on South Africa’s liberation history.