South African (SA) Leader of the Congress of the People (COPE), Mosiuoa Lekota, has died at the age of 77.

Lekota had stepped back from active politics last year to focus on his health, prompting the appointment of Teboho Loate as the party’s interim leader.

A veteran of SA’s liberation struggle, Lekota was previously a senior member of the African National Congress before co-founding COPE in 2008 following internal divisions within the ruling party.

He served as the first Premier of the Free State from 1994 to 1996 and later as Minister of Defence between 1999 and 2008 under former president Thabo Mbeki.

Tributes are expected to pour in from across the political spectrum, recognising Lekota’s decades-long role in shaping SA’s democratic dispensation.

–ChannelAfrica–