Deputy President Paul Mashatile is set to deliver a eulogy at the funeral of Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota, the struggle stalwart, former Minister of Defence and founding President of the Congress of the People (COPE), who died earlier this month at the age of 77, the presidency has announced.
The former Premier of the Free State, Chair of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), and National Chairman of the ANC will be laid to rest at the Old Grey Sports Club in Bloemfontein.
He has been granted an official category 2 funeral, with ceremonial guard by the South African Police Service. Flags have flown at half-mast for the past week.
“Mr. Lekota dedicated his life to the struggle for freedom and democracy. As a member of the South African Students’ Organisation and a leading figure in the United Democratic Front (UDF), he played a significant role in mobilising communities against apartheid. He was imprisoned on Robben Island for eight years alongside struggle leaders, including Tata Nelson Mandela,” the presidency said in a statement.
In the period since his passing, tributes have flooded in from various quarters in recognition of his work, especially in a democratic South Africa, in South Africa and the rest of the continent where he was directly involved in peacekeeping missions in places including Burundi.
Apart from tributes, Cope and the ANC, tributes also came from the Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO) and the Black Consciousness Movement and student formation, where his activism took shape in the early 70s, leading to the first of his detention stints.
He was also a Delmas Treason Trialist, where he was detained alongside former North West Premier Popo Molefe, among others.
On Friday, a mass was held in his honour at the St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Bochabela, Bloemfontein
The funeral is expected to be graced by his peers, contemporaries and former comrades, and starts at 9.
