JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters) – South African anti-apartheid activist Mosiuoa Lekota, who broke away from the African National Congress to establish a new political party, died early on Wednesday, his party said in a statement. He was 77 years old.
* Lekota died after a brief illness and withdrew from active politics. * He was a close ally of former President Thabo Mbeki and served as Defense Minister of South Africa from 1999 to 2008. * Lekota, who as a young man was nicknamed the “Terror” for his fearsome skills on the football pitch, stepped down in protest at Mbeki's removal and was ousted from the ANC's national executive committee after repeatedly criticizing Mbeki's successor Jacob. Friday. * He co-founded the Congress of the People (COPE) party in 2008. * COPE won about 7% of the vote in the first national election it contested in 2009, but its vote share has been below 1% in every national election since then. * Lekota worked as a student activist during the 1970s. He served a prison sentence on Robben Island along with the country's liberation hero Nelson Mandela.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Colleen Goko; Editing by Alexander Vining)