Note to Editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Roy Jankielsohn MPL
The Democratic Alliance (DA) expresses our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Free State struggle stalwart Mosiuoa Patrick Lekota. The Free State has lost a son who was born in Kroonstad in 1948 and maintained his roots in the province. He was best known by his nickname “Terror” which he received due to his prowess on the soccer field.
Lekota was a struggle stalwart who served two prison sentences that included Robben Island, alongside Nelson Mandela. Lekota was elected as the first Premier of the Free State from 1994 to 1996. He went on to serve as Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces between 1997 and 1999 and Minister of Defence between 1999 and 2008. Lekota refused to serve in the ANC with Jacob Zuma as its President and signed “divorce papers” with the ANC to form an opposition party, Congress of the People, in 2008.
Lekota was a gentleman politician who will be remembered for his lifelong and unwavering quest to build a non-racial and inclusive constitutional democracy in South Africa. Lekota’s legacy of Ubuntu is visible through the political tolerance, communal consensus-seeking and humility that he embraced and that is still valued in the Free State.