Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota has broken down in tears as he described his comrades who died at the hands of the apartheid regime.

The former ANC veteran was speaking to this publication in an interview that touched on land reform. Lekota‚ who has been outspoken critic of ANC policies‚ dismissed criticism that current political failures were a result of the Codesa talks that ended apartheid.

Lekota wept as he mentioned those who had died at the hands of the regime. 

“Many of our young people were hung there (in Pretoria). What’s so sad is that we faced death. We lost some of the best human beings‚” he said.

“Now we have all these little kids and some of the people who are actually old enough to know (who are criticising Codesa) ... Codesa was not a sell-out. The commitment made to the people was that‚ when the right moment comes‚ we will negotiate a settlement and we went to do that.

“We promised our people‚ through the mouth of Mandela‚ Tambo‚ the late Chief Albert Luthuli‚ we want peace in our country. We were not looking to kill human beings.”