BLOEMFONTEIN – The Congress of the People (Cope) leadership in the Free State visited the bereaved family of the late Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick “Terror” Lekota yesterday – Sunday 8 March – to convey sympathy, offer support and honour the memory of the party’s departed president.
Coinciding with tributes from across the political spectrum, the visitation forms part of a foundational tradition across many cultures designed to offer comfort and support the living.
One of the revered freedom fighters of his generation, Terror (as Lekota was well-known) passed on Wednesday 4 March, in a hospital in Johannesburg. He was 77 and succumbed to ill-health. The Cope leadership visitation paves the way for Lekota’s state official funeral in Bloemfontein on Saturday 14 March.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that the late former Minister of Defence Lekota will be honoured with a Special Official Funeral Category 2. He also directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast at all flag stations from 7 to 14 March, the evening of the funeral.
Two memorial services will be held. One at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto on Wednesday 11 March, and the other in Bloemfontein on Thursday 12 March at a venue yet to be announced.
Pakes Dikgetsi, COPE’s national chairperson, announced that a church service will also be held at the Catholic Church in Bochabela on Friday 13 March, ahead of the state funeral the next day in the Free State capital.
Lekota’s leadership was far-reaching, encompassing activism in student organisations, serving in government and shaping South Africa’s political landscape.
Ramaphosa paid tribute to Lekota, describing him as “a patriot, freedom fighter, and servant of the people whose life story is closely intertwined with our journey of struggle and the realisation of democracy. We honour him especially for his principled dedication to non-racialism during our struggle and in a liberated South Africa.”
Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae paid tribute to the first premier saying he embodied leadership and was key in transitioning the Free State from the apartheid regime.
“Lekota was not merely a politician but a living embodiment of the resilient, unyielding spirit of the people of the Free State. His life was a testament to the price paid for the freedom we enjoy today. When the dawn of democracy finally broke in 1994, it was this tested and principled leader whom the people entrusted with the historic responsibility of becoming the first democratically elected premier of the Free State.
“His tenure from 1994 to 1996 was not one of comfort, but of foundational labour. He took the reins of a province scarred by apartheid and began the painstaking work of building a unified, non-racial government from the ground up. He laid the cornerstone of our provincial administration, championing reconciliation and initiating the long walk to establish a government that served all its people. His leadership in those formative years shaped the very character of our democracy,” said Letsoha-Mathae.
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