ANC shows rare moment of grace in honouring Lekota

Friends, family and dignitaries attend the official funeral service of struggle veteran and COPE founder, Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick ‘Terror’ Lekota at the Old Grey Sports Club on March 14, 2026 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Lekota, a veteran of the liberation struggle and inaugural Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, passed away on March 4th at the age of 77. (Photo by Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw) The ANC surprised many by honouring Mosiuoa Lekota, the late president of the Congress of the People (Cope), with the dignity of a state funeral.

For a man who broke ranks with the ANC in 2008, this recognition was striking. It suggested that the party’s leadership can rise above its usual pettiness and factionalism. I confess to being taken aback.

The ANC of recent years has rarely inspired confidence. Compared to the humility and generosity of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Albert Luthuli, today’s leaders often appear vindictive and self-serving. Yet, after Lekota’s passing, they set aside cynicism and treated him as one of their own.

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The irony is sharp. Lekota “served divorce papers” to the ANC nearly two decades ago, ending a long association that began on Robben Island in the 1970s. Like many in the Black Consciousness Movement, he eventually gravitated to the ANC, joining a stream of activists including Cyril Ramaphosa, Lindiwe Sisulu and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who found the ANC’s liberation politics irresistible.

AtLekota’s funeral, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and Deputy President Paul Mashatile spoke glowingly of him, their words echoing the respect once reserved for struggle veterans. President Cyril Ramaphosa went further, granting a state funeral andordering flags to fly at half-mast. This was despite Lekota’s repeated accusations that Ramaphosa had betrayed him to the apartheid police – a claim never substantiated.

Ramaphosa’s gesture reflected statesmanship. You could be excused for thinking it was an ANC member’s funeral. This tolerance was not always the hallmark of the ANC.

Cope, like Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement, endured harassment as a breakaway party. I witnessed Cope meetings disrupted in Orange Farm soon after its formation and, later, in Potsdam in the Eastern Cape.

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