Statement

The ANC Veterans League mourns the passing away of Cde Keith Mokoape, an esteemed Umkhonto we Sizwe fighter and leader, a former Major General in the SANDF and an active member of the Veterans League and Umkhontwe we Sizwe Liberation War Veterans, MKLWV.

He was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver by the Presidency in 2014 for his contribution to serving the country from exile to democracy. Cde 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.

Starting in the South African Students Movement (SASO), he was 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 Regional Political Military Committee in Maputo. In 1983- 1988, he was the Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence, working alongside Cde Ronnie Kasrils, the Chief of Military Intelligence. When cde Kasrils was deployed to Operation Vula, comrade Mokoape became the Chief of Military Intelligence from 1988 to 1991. Cde Kasrils remembers him as “an outstanding hero of our struggle and a wonderful human being who will never be forgotten”.

He has not only fought in Southern Africa. In 1988, in a six-man unit led by the late Lt Gen Lennox Tshali, comrade Mokoape was deployed alongside the guerillas of the Polisario Front in Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. They brought back tactics of the Polisario Front, which were used, among other attacks, to successfully attack the Slurry Military Base in the former Bophuthatswana bantustan.There is hardly a former MK soldier who has not passed through the hands of Cde 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 the Awards & 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, thoroughly, and comprehensively. We remember his humility, belief, solid and steadfast character as a fearless freedom fighter.

Like most veterans, comrade Keith 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 bouyed by the many memories of your time spent together.

May he rest in eternal peace.

Snuki Zikalala
President of ANC Veterans League