Mothopeng; African Militant Leader
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Zephania Mothopeng, who broke with the African National Congress in 1959 to help form the militant, exclusively black Pan Africanist Congress, died Tuesday. He was 77.
He had been suffering from cancer and pneumonia.
Mothopeng lived his last years a few blocks from the Soweto homes of fellow black nationalists Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, but his militant stance kept him far from the more moderate African National Congress leaders.
Like Mandela and Sisulu, Mothopeng spent years in prison for political activities. His release from Johannesburg’s Diepkloof Prison in November, 1988, preceded reforms that included freedom for the ANC leaders and government promises to include blacks in a new constitution.
In their first public statements after being freed, both Mothopeng and Mandela urged the continuation of the armed struggle against the government. But unlike Mandela and other ANC leaders, Mothopeng opposed talks with the government intended to pave the way for a new constitution.
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