Mosiuoa Lekota
 |
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 1999 – 25 September 2008 | |
| Succeeded by | Charles Nqakula |
| Member of Parliament | |
| Assumed office 1996 | |
| Premier of Free State | |
| In office Position created 1994 – 1996 | |
| Succeeded by | Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 August 1948 |
| Political party | African National Congress |
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician who was Minister of Defence from 17 June 1999 to 25 September 2008. He was previously known as Terror Lekota because of his playing style on the soccer field.
Early life
Lekota had his primary education at Emma Farm School and most of his secondary education at Mariazel High School in Matatiele. However, he matriculated at St. Francis College in Mariannhill in 1969. Although he enrolled for a social science degree at the University of the North, Lekota was expelled due to his Student Representative Council (SRC) and Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) aligned South African Students' Organisation (SASO) activities in 1972.
Political career
Lekota became a permanent organiser for SASO in 1974, but was imprisoned at Robben Island Prison for "conspiring to commit acts endangering the maintenance of law and order" during the same year. He was released from prison in 1982.
After his release, he was elected publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983. In 1985, Lekota was detained and later sentenced in the Delmas Treason Trial. However, he was released in 1989 after the Appeal Court reviewed the sentence.
In 1990, Lekota became convenor of the ANC in Southern Natal and he was subsequently elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) and its National Working Committee (NWC). He was appointed as the ANC's Chief of Intelligence in 1991 and was elected as the secretary for the organisation's election commission in 1992. After the first fully democratic elections were held in South Africa in 1994, Lekota was elected as premier of the Free State province. He held this position until 1996.
Lekota subsequently served as the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces from 1997 to 1999, before being appointed Minister of Defence. He was also elected as National Chairperson of the ANC in December 1997, a position which he held until 2007. He was succeeded by Baleka Mbete, the current Speaker of the National Assembly.
Following the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki in September 2008, Lekota was one of ten ministers who submitted their resignations on September 23.[1]
Announcement of new party
On October 8, 2008, Lekota announced that the faction of the party that was loyal to Mbeki would serve "divorce papers", indicating a secession from the ANC and the creation of a new political party. If this is carried through, this would be the first mass schism from the ANC since the creation of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania in 1959 during the apartheid period.
The announcement was both rejected and played down by leaders of the ANC, with heavy derision coming from the South African Communist Party. However, the announcement of a new party for disaffected members of the ANC was welcomed by opposition party leaders, including Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance and Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic Movement.
References
- ^ "Confusion rattles markets", Sapa (IOL), September 23, 2008.
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| #default = 1948 births
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