Zephania Lekoame Mothopeng (10 September 1913 – 23 October 1990) was a South African political activist and member of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC).
[1]: 200 After matriculation, he trained as a teacher at Adams College in Kwa-Zulu Natal,[1]: 200 where he and three other colleagues defiantly sat on the seats reserved for European staff members.
[2] Mothopeng began his struggle against apartheid in 1943 as a founding member of the African National Congress Youth League.
[1]: 201 He left the African National Congress (ANC) because of the rise of the Freedom Charter, a multiracial philosophy.
The campaign was defined by Pan Africanists as the application of non-violent mass action in the form of strikes, boycotts and non-collaboration with the oppressive authorities.
As a member of the PAC, Mothopeng was arrested several times, first in 1960 for two years for taking part in the Defiance Campaign.
His arrest followed a massive police swoop on the PAC underground movement called Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo.
Mothopeng, John Ganya, Mark Shinners, and others, played a leading role in establishing contact with the external mission of the PAC in Tanzania, recruiting new members to the PAC, establishing underground cells, and sending recruits outside the country to join APLA in exile.
[3] After his release he was banished to QwaQwa in the Free State but only stayed for six months before returning to his home in Johannesburg.