1. Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota was born on 13 August 1948 and is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the People splinter party in 2008.
Mosiuoa Lekota has served as its President since 16 December 2008.
Mosiuoa Lekota was a leader of the United Democratic Front and a key defendant in the Delmas Treason Trial, 1985 to 1988.
Mosiuoa Lekota had his primary education at Emma Farm School and most of his secondary education at Mariazel High School in Matatiele.
Mosiuoa Lekota became a permanent organiser for SASO in 1974, but was imprisoned at Robben Island Prison for "conspiring to commit acts endangering the maintenance of law and order" during the same year.
Mosiuoa Lekota had organised victory rallies to celebrate the independence of Mozambique.
In 1985, Mosiuoa Lekota was detained and later sentenced in the Delmas Treason Trial.
In 1990, Mosiuoa Lekota became convenor of the African National Congress in Southern Natal and, in 1991, was elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee and its National Working Committee.
Mosiuoa Lekota was appointed as the ANC's Chief of Intelligence in 1991 and elected as secretary for the organisation's electoral commission in 1992.
Mosiuoa Lekota subsequently served as the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces from 1997 to 1999, before being appointed Minister of Defence.
Mosiuoa Lekota was elected as National Chairperson of the ANC in December 1997, a position which he held until 2007.
On 8 October 2008, Mosiuoa Lekota announced that the faction of the party that was loyal to Mbeki would serve "divorce papers", indicating a secession from the ANC and the creation of a new political party.
On 16 December 2008, Mosiuoa Lekota announced his candidacy for the leadership of COPE: being the only candidate, he was elected without a vote and announced as the first President of COPE at the convention.
On 20 February 2009, Mosiuoa Lekota lost the battle for his party's presidential candidacy to the former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Mvume Dandala.
Media reports suggested that Mosiuoa Lekota had failed to endorse Dandala, and that party deputy leader Shilowa had played a key role in elevating Dandala over Mosiuoa Lekota.
Although, for some time subsequent to Dandala's victory, Mosiuoa Lekota kept mum on the matter, on 5 February 2009, on his Facebook page, he spoke out, urging supporters of the new movement:.
Mosiuoa Lekota had not, he said, held any of the meetings he was alleged to have had with his former party.
Mosiuoa Lekota did not take up a seat in Parliament after the election; instead, COPE decided that he should concentrate on organizing and building the party, together with Secretary-General Charlotte Lobe.
Mosiuoa Lekota is married and has four children, two daughters and two sons; his wife Cynthia was a former Mathematics teacher in the Nquthu, KwaZulu-Natal.
Mosiuoa Lekota is a fluent speaker of English, Afrikaans, Tswana, Sotho, Xhosa and Zulu.
Mosiuoa Lekota has a child with former Cape Nature deputy chairwoman Yasmina Pandy.
On 25 February 2009, with elections just two months away, Mosiuoa Lekota told News24 journalist Verashni Pillay that he could not say for certain that HIV causes AIDS.