The founder of the Congress of the People (COPE) and former freedom activist Mosiuoa Lekota has passed away.
According to IOL, 77-year-old Lekota died at a Johannesburg hospital in the early hours of Wednesday, following a long illness.
Born in Kroonstad in the Free State, Lekota’s activism began as a student until he was expelled from the University of the North for his involvement in student politics and the Black Consciousness Movement.
As an organizer of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO), he was arrested and sent to Robben Island in 1974. Released in 1983, he was re-arrested during the 1985 Delmas Treason Trial. Lekota later served as Prime Minister of the Free State and Minister of Defence, before abandoning the ANC and founding COPE in 2008.