Opposition party has new leader

South Africa's new Congress of the People party named former defense minister Mosiuoa Lekota as its leader yesterday and said it would stand against the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on a pro-business platform.

COPE, founded two months ago by ANC defectors close to former South African president Thabo Mbeki, represents the biggest challenge to the ANC since it took power at the end of apartheid in 1994.

"The history of South Africa will never be the same," Lekota told two thousand cheering delegates as he accepted the party's top leadership post at a conference in Bloemfontein. "We have taken this step because we are the party of the future."