Thursday , 5 March 2026
Former South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota waves to supporters after being elected leader of the country’s Congress of the People (COPE) party at its conference in Bloemfontein on December 16, 2008.

Lekota’s body arrives in Bloemfontein ahead of burial


The body of Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mosiuoa Lekota has arrived in Bloemfontein, where he will be buried.
The former Free State premier died on Wednesday at a hospital in Midrand, Johannesburg after suffering from a long illness. He was 77-years-old.
Lekota’s family says the funeral is expected to take place between Friday and Saturday, next week.
The family’s spokesperson, Pitso Sekhoto, says watching Lekota’s health deteriorate prepared them for this day.
“We are not sad because we have seen him going through the process of being ill. And when you have seen somebody ill for too long, you feel that time must just come for him to go and relax, and that’s how we felt. So, we are not mourning, we are celebrating Ntate Lekota’s life. We have been nursing him for the last two months, so this process has made us very strong.”
Video | Family, colleagues gather at the Lekota family home:

www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/lekotas-body-arrives-in-bloemfontein-ahead-of-burial/

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