WeeklySA_AdminACTIVISM: The ANC veteran remembered as a consummate intellectual, for his humility and as a fearless freedom fighter…
By Snuki Zikalala
The ANC Veterans League mourns the passing away of Comrade Mokoape, an esteemedUmkhonto we Sizwe fighter and leader, a former Major General in the SANDF and an active member of the Veterans League and Umkhonto we Sizwe Liberation War Veterans.
Mokoape was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver by the Presidency in 2014 for his contribution to the liberation of this country, from exile to democracy.
Mokoape was born in Wallmansthal, north of Tshwane, in 1947. After studying for a BSc at Turfloop University, he went to the University of Natal, where he was president of the SRC.
He began his activism in the South African Students Movement, and later became one of the first members of the black consciousness movement to join the ANC. His efforts to become a doctor were thwarted when he left the country and joined the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1972. Between 1975 and 1986, he served in many leadership positions in MK operations in Botswana, Mozambique, and Swaziland.
In 1985, he was appointed to the ANC’s Regional Political Military Committee in Maputo. In 1988, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence, working alongside Ronnie Kasrils, the Chief of Military Intelligence. When cde Kasrils was deployed to Operation Vula, Mokoape became the Chief of Military Intelligence from 1988 to 1991.
Kasrils remembers him as “an outstanding hero of our struggle and a wonderful human being who will never be forgotten”. His underground military activities did not only focus in Southern Africa. In 1988, as part of a six-man unit led by the late Lt Gen Lennox Tshali, Mokoape was deployed alongside the guerillas of the Polisario Front in Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. From his experience in Western Sahara, he brought back tactics of the Polisario Front, which were used – among other operations – to successfully attack the Slurry Military Base in the former Bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
There is hardly a former MK soldier who has not passed through the hands of Mokoape. His concern for the plight of former MK soldiers is also legendary.
Thus, when he retired from military life, he studied development and co-operatives and concerned himself with development projects involving former MK members who could not make it into the future defence force.
In recent years, he has been working with COGTA on projects to get military veterans to rehabilitate municipal infrastructure.
Comrade Mokoape was a member of the Centurion Veterans League branch and was co-opted to the ANC Veterans League NEC in 2024. There, he served on various committees, including the elections committee and awards and memorialisation committee. He remained deeply concerned about the welfare and memorialisation of veterans, including those from the Luthuli Detachment.
He is remembered as a well-read, consummate intellectual who engaged with every topic thoughtfully. We remember his humility, belief, solid and steadfast character as a fearless freedom fighter.
Like most veterans, Mokoape firmly believed that the ANC must be renewed and returned to its former glory to serve the people of South Africa and to achieve the objectives of “the National Democratic Revolution”.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, comrade MaGirly and family. Your loss is our loss. May you be buoyed by the many memories of your time spent together.
* Zikalala is the president of the ANC Veterans League
