Statement

On behalf of the Veterans League, I extend our sincere condolences to  comrade MaGirly and family, comrades and friends of Cde Keith Mokoape.  He was an esteemed Umkhonto 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, MKLWV.

He will be fondly remembered by us for many things.

Cde Keith left the country in 1972, before the June 16 uprising when black consciousness was the prevailing sentiment among university students and other sectors of black society that were beginning to challenge the apartheid regime.  He will be remembered as one of the first black consciousness adherents to join the ANC and then persuade many other young people who left the country after the Frelimo Rallies and the murder of Steve Biko to join the ANC in exile.

For me personally, Cde Keith was a friend and a comrade in arms, as one of the younger members of the Luthuli detachment. We worked together in Botswana from 1976-78 until we were made prohibited immigrants in Botswana.

Cde Keith was infiltrated from Zambia to Botswana to reinforce ANC underground structures.

Keith and I were responsible for the Western Front and reported directly to Cde Joe Modise.

In Botswana we were involved in every activity of the ANC, whether receiving and processing new ANC recruits from inside the country who were destined for military training in Angola or education abroad, training, and infiltrating MK cadres inside the country.

We were responsible for reviving ANC underground structures in the country and planned military operations in South Africa.

We secured safe places on the farms and some residents houses in Botswana where we stored large caches of arms and ammunition destined for South Africa.

We controlled and mastered everything that had to do with the rebuilding of ANC structures in South Africa and infiltrated trained MK cadres inside the country.

Cde Keith will be remembered as a fighter who rose rapidly through the ranks of the Umkhonto we Sizwe. Between 1975 and 1986, he served in many leadership positions in MK operations in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland.  In 1985, he was appointed to the Regional Political Military Committee in Maputo. In 1988, he was the Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence before becoming the Chief of Military Intelligence the following year.

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 engage the Slurry Military Base in the former Bophuthatswana.

His concern for the plight of his comrades in arms is legendary. He will be remembered for caring for military veterans when we came home in 1990. He turned his attention to development studies and the building of co-operatives specifically so that he could assist former soldiers to build new lives for themselves at home.

He will be remembered as a dedicated veteran of our struggle. Comrade Mokoape was a member of the ANCVl Centurion 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, especially those from his generation in the Luthuli Detachment.

And lastly, he will be remembered as a personable, steadfast, humble, and very decent human being. He was a well-read, consummate intellectual who engaged thoughtfully, thoroughly, and comprehensively on every topic.

He was a model of what an ANC member should be and stand for. Like most veterans, comrade Keith firmly believed that the ANC must be renewed  to serve the people of South Africa and to achieve the objectives of the National Democratic Revolution,

For his revolutionary efforts, the presidency awarded Cde Keith the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 28 April 2018. To honour his legacy, we should recommit ourselves to renewing the ANC through the rebuilding of branches, reconnecting with the people, and zero tolerance to unethical behaviour that brings our movement into disrepute. 

May he rest in eternal peace.

Hamba Kahle Sotsha Lo Mkhonto

Robala Ka Kgotso

Dr Snuki Zikalala

President of ANC Veterans League