JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters) - South African anti-apartheid activist Mosiuoa Lekota, who broke away from the African National Congress to found a new political party, died in the early hours of Wednesday morning, his party said in a statement. He was 77 years old.
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* Lekota died after a period of illness and had stepped backfrom active politics. * He was a close ally of former President Thabo Mbeki andserved as South Africa's defence minister from 1999 to 2008. * Lekota, nicknamed "Terror" for his fearsome skills on thesoccer pitch as young man, quit in protest at Mbeki's oustingand was voted off the ANC's National Executive Committee afterrepeated criticism of Mbeki's successor, Jacob Zuma. * He co-founded the Congress of the People (COPE) party in2008. * COPE won roughly 7% of the vote in the first nationalelection it contested, in 2009, but its vote share has beenbelow 1% at every national election since then. * Lekota worked as a student activist during the 1970s. Heserved jail time on Robben Island with the country's liberationhero Nelson Mandela.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Colleen Goko;Editing by Alexander Winning)
