Mofihli Likotsi Explained

Party:	African Transformation Movement
Office1:	Member of the National Assembly
Termstart1:	23 April 2004
Termend1:	May 2009
Citizenship:	South Africa
Otherparty:	Pan Africanist Congress African People's Convention

Mofihli Thomas Likotsi is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2009. A former secretary-general of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), he represented the PAC in Parliament until September 2007, when he, with Themba Godi, crossed the floor to the African People's Convention (APC). Likotsi subsequently rejoined the PAC, but in 2019 he joined the African Transformation Movement (ATM).

Early life and career: 2004

During apartheid, Likotsi was an activist for the PAC in the former Orange Free State.^[1] At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997, a Security Branch police officer applied for amnesty for having assaulted Likotsi.

By the time of that hearing, Likotsi was chairman of the PAC in the post-apartheid Free State province. In subsequent years, he worked as a businessman and also represented the ANC as a local councillor in Bloemfontein.^[2] In August 2002, his office at the PAC's headquarters in Botshabelo were raided by the police, but it was not clear why. In June 2003, Likotsi was elected as national secretary-general of the PAC, serving alongside PAC president Motsoko Pheko and deputy president Themba Godi.^[3] In later years, he was considered a possible candidate to succeed Pheko as party president.^[4]

Legislative career: 2004–2009

In the 2004 general election, Likotsi was elected to a PAC seat in the National Assembly.^[5] During the 2007 floor-crossing window, his colleague in the PAC caucus, Themba Godi, announced that he had left the PAC in order to establish his own party, the APC. As media predicted,^[6] Likotsi announced the following day that he would follow Godi to the APC.^{[7] [8]} He formally joined the party on 6 December 2007 and served the rest of the legislative term under the APC banner.^[9]

He left Parliament after the 2009 general election and subsequently returned to the PAC, running unsuccessfully for election on the PAC ticket in 2014.^[10] In 2019, he joined the ATM and ran unsuccessfully for election on the ATM ticket, ranked first on the party's regional list for the Free State.^[11]

Notes and References

1. News: 9 September 1997 . Free State security policeman tells of torture and beatings . SAPA . 11 April 2023.
2. Web site: 27 August 2002 . Police raid on PAC probed . 2023-04-11 . News24 . en-US.
3. Web site: 15 June 2003 . Pheko to head PAC . 2023-04-11 . News24 . en-US.
4. Web site: 2006-08-11 . Five-way race for PAC presidency . 2023-04-11 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
5. 20 April 2004 . 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 . . Pretoria, South Africa . . 466 . 2677 . 4–95 . 26 March 2021.
6. Web site: 2007-09-04 . Godi leaves PAC for African People’s Convention . 2023-04-11 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
7. Web site: 2007-09-05 . Former PAC deputy head launches new political party . 2023-04-11 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
8. Web site: 2007-09-15 . PAC’s Pheko denounces floor-crossing . 2023-04-11 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
9. 20 April 2004 . 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 . . Pretoria, South Africa . . 466 . 2677 . 4–95 . 26 March 2021.
10. Web site: Thomas Likotsi . 2023-04-11 . People's Assembly . en.
11. Web site: Mofihli Thomas Likotsi . 2023-04-11 . People's Assembly . en.