South Africa changed drastically during the course of Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota’s life, as did the ANC activist-turned-COPE leader’s role in politics. However, one constant was his penchant for taking the contrarian approach. Often, though perhaps not always, he proved to be on the right side of history.
Born in Kroonstad, Free State, Lekota earned his nickname on the soccer field as a fearsome attacking player. One could be forgiven for thinking it had been coined by one of Lekota’s political enemies or even allies. Nobody escaped outspoken scrutiny if he vehemently disagreed with them.
He matriculated at St Francis College in Mariannhill, Durban, in 1969 before enrolling in a social science degree at the University of the North. However, he was expelled in 1972 due to his South African Student Organisation (Saso) and student representative council activities.
In 1974, Lekota was imprisoned for “conspiring to commit acts endangering the maintenance of law and order”. He was released in 1982.
Undeterred, Lekota was elected publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983. In 1985, he was one of 11 anti-apartheid activists found guilty, of the 22 who were prosecuted, in the Delmas treason trial. After the appeal court reviewed his initial 12-year sentence, Lekota was released in 1989.
While in prison over the course of his two sentences, he wrote letters to his eldest daughter, Masetjhaba. In 1991, he released a book, Prison Letters to a Daughter.
Perhaps the most traumatic event of Lekota’s life was in 1996 when Masetjhaba was found dead on the campus of the university she was attending.
If, after that, his soul became restless, one could empathise. Perhaps this could, in part, explain the highs and lows of his political career in the ensuing decades.
Serving the ANC post-release in various capacities before democracy, Lekota was appointed premier of the Free State in 1994. He held his position until 1996, but much of his attention was consumed by a factional battle with the controversial Ace Magashule, the fellow provincial powerhouse who would go on to be appointed premier under Jacob Zuma and later ANC secretary-general.
Lekota was appointed national chairperson of the ANC in December 1997 and held the position until 2007, being succeeded by Baleka Mbete.
In September 2008, Thabo Mbeki resigned as South Africa’s president, with Lekota submitting his resignation as defence minister days later. The following month, Congress of the People (COPE) was formed as a breakaway movement from the ANC by Mbeki’s faction. Lekota was elected unopposed as party leader in December 2008 and COPE won 7.42% of the national vote in 2009.
Struggling to cope
COPE’s support decreased to 0.67% in the 2014 elections and 0.27% in 2019 as Julius Malema’s EFF became the primary rivals to the ruling ANC and opposition DA.
Lekota made two strategic blunders shortly before the 2019 election. In September 2018, he joined forces with AfriForum in defence of property rights amid the debate about land expropriation without compensation.
Lekota’s stance on the matter was not altogether surprising, but the decision to partner with the conservative non-governmental organisation lobbying for Afrikaner interests was questionable.
The second blunder was to publicly accuse President Cyril Ramaphosa of “selling out” anti-apartheid activists, Lekota included, to the notorious police Special Branch of the apartheid regime. Ramaphosa gave an impassioned denial of the allegation, which Lekota levelled in response to his 2019 state of the nation address, saying that he had, in fact, resisted pressure to testify against his comrades.
Whatever the merits of Lekota’s allegations, parading them in front of the nation without providing irrefutable evidence did not have the desired effect. This is evidenced by COPE’s dismal display in the 2019 national elections.
To understand these mistakes, one needs to examine Lekota’s record. That Lekota shot from the hip throughout his political career was both his biggest strength and weakness.
According to IOL, Lekota came to regret his handling of his outspoken allegations of corruption against fellow ANC members in his province during his time as Free State premier. “I got myself victimised and removed from the leadership. I think it was much later that the comrades realised I was right but it was too late then,” he said.
Lekota made another major error ahead of the 2009 elections when he refused to acknowledge unequivocally that HIV caused Aids in discussion with Verashni Pillay for News24. Lekota would later backtrack and deny that was his view. However, mistakes are inevitable when one spends half a century in the political arena.
Overall, certainly in comparison with most of his high-profile comrades, Lekota’s legacy is largely intact.
When speculation was rife that his services were sought by the ANC and he could potentially return, Lekota emphatically denied the rumours to Sunday Times.
“There is no way I can return to the company of men and women who are dead set on destroying the constitutional democracy which I gave most of my life to creating. I will go to the grave a member of the Congress of the People,” he said.
If nothing else, Lekota proved to be a politician who, far more than most in his business, stood by his words.
While other ANC politicians aligned themselves to leaders, Lekota stood by his own conscience first and foremost. He was seen as a member of the Mbeki faction of the ANC, but clashed with his boss over the latter’s quiet diplomacy with Zimbabwe.
Despite emerging from Saso, a movement founded by Steve Biko, he was not afraid to openly and diametrically oppose Malema and the EFF on the land debate, choosing to follow his instincts rather than trying to blend in with the crowd. The EFF had, by then, attempted to paint itself as the heir to Biko’s Black Consciousness Movement, but Lekota was unfazed.
Lekota’s best judgment may have sometimes led him astray, but unlike many of his comrades in politics, he cannot be accused of failing to follow that judgment.
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