Mosiuoa Lekota dies at 77 after a long illness

A towering anti-apartheid figure who did time on Robben Island and later torched his own party legacy just exited the stage at 77.

Mosiuoa Lekota's life and legacy

• Mosiuoa Lekota served as South Africa's defence minister for a full decade.
• His Robben Island stint overlapped with Nelson Mandela's imprisonment.
• Lekota became the Free State's first premier after democracy arrived.
• Football skills earned him the nickname Terror early on.

ANC fallout and Cope's rise

• Lekota ditched the ANC in 2008 over governance and corruption gripes.
• Thabo Mbeki's ouster by the party accelerated his departure.
• Cope, co-founded with Mbhazima Shilowa, snagged 30 parliamentary seats initially.
• Internal leadership beef between the two tanked the party over time.

Activist roots and treason trials

• Lekota first got locked up in 1974 under the Terrorism Act.
• His United Democratic Front role triggered another arrest after 1982.
• Eleven people caught convictions in the Delmas Treason Trial.
• South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal eventually tossed those sentences.

Tributes and final chapter

• Cyril Ramaphosa called Lekota a freedom fighter and servant of the people.
• Trevor Manuel described his late friend as an amazing human being.
• Manuel visited a very ill Lekota in intensive care two weeks prior.
• Cope confirmed he had stepped back from public office last August.