Mpho Lekgoro

Mpho Lekgoro
Member of the National Assembly
In office
June 1999 – 1 August 2007
Personal details
Born1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Mpho Morepye Sephwe Lekgoro (born 1964 or 1965) is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2007. He was formerly an ANC Youth League activist.

Anti-apartheid activism

Lekgoro was born in 1964 or 1965.[1] He was a member of the United Democratic Front and South African Youth Congress in the 1980s and was detained for his anti-apartheid activism.[1] He made international news in March 1989, aged 24, when he and three other young detainees escaped police custody and took refuge in the West German Embassy in Pretoria; they escaped from Hillbrow Hospital, where they had been receiving treatment for starvation after participating in a nationwide hunger strike by political detainees.[1] The West German Embassy allowed them to stay.[2] From 1994 to 1996, he was secretary-general of the ANC Youth League under league president Lulu Johnson, with Febe Potgieter as his deputy.[3][4]

Parliament: 1999–2007

Lekgoro served in the post-apartheid Parliament of South Africa from 1999 to 2007, gaining election to the National Assembly in 1999[5] and 2004.[6] During his second term he served as spokesperson for the ANC's parliamentary caucus.[7] He resigned from Parliament on 1 August 2007[8] and was replaced as spokesperson by Khotso Khumalo.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Claiborne, William (21 March 1989). "4 South African prisoners flee, seek refuge in Bonn's embassy". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ "4 Jailed Blacks Flee to Embassy in Pretoria". The New York Times. 21 March 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Mokaba comes of age" (PDF). Mayibuye. 5 (1): 7. 1994. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. ^ "49th National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected at Conference". African National Congress. 20 December 1994. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. ^ "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  6. ^ "General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 466, no. 2677. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 20 April 2004. pp. 4–95. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. ^ "ANC caucus rejects report of MP money plan". The Mail & Guardian. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  8. ^ "National Assembly Members". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  9. ^ "New ANC Caucus Spokesperson". ANC Parliamentary Caucus. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2023.