Premier Mxolisi Dukwana has paid tribute to the late Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe who died in a car crash that also claimed the life of his security officer in the early hours of this Sunday.
The accident happened after the car in which they were travelling in from Johannesburg rammed into three stray cows on the N1 highway near Winburg, about 113kn northwest of Bloemfontein.
Dukwana said Makgoe had dedicated his life to uplifting the marginalised.
“Makgoe, throughout his life, believed in the vision of a better life for all,” the premier said.
“He was driven by the quest for the total eradication of poverty and underdevelopment, especially through his deployment as MEC for Education, where he catapulted the province to top status as the best performing for consecutive years.
“He now departs, leaving a department that remains on the top echelons of the education sector in the country.”
Makgoe has been serving as the Free State’s MEC for Education since May 2009.
Under his watch, the province has attained the highest matric pass rate in the country for the past four consecutive years.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has expressed its condolences on the tragic passing on of Makgoe and his aide.
“He will be remembered for his fine sense of humour, as a vigorous participant in debates of the Legislature and his respect for the decorum of the House,” DA Free State Roy Jankielsohn said.
“His last debate in the Legislature was on Friday during the debate on the SOPA where he spoke with pride on the matric results in the Free State.
“The Free State Executive Committee will be poorer for the loss of his institutional knowledge and many years of experience.”
The ANC Youth League’s Fezile Dabi region has also paid tribute to the late Makgoe.
“Comrade Tate, as he was famously known, was not only an MEC of Basic Education but a comrade, mentor and an inspirer from our region,” the party’s regional leadership said in a statement.
“He dedicated all his life to working diligently for the African National Congress, he has been an epitome of what real member of the ANC needs to be like till the end: the clean record, no scandal, many terms in office, the hard work towards elections in this province, the wonderful work in the Department of Education . . .”
Born Pule Herbert Isak Makgoe on 12 May 1963 in Tumahole, Parys, Free State province, he was a respected member of the ANC who served the provincial government in the following portfolios:
- Member of the Free State Legislature (1994-2023)
- Free State MEC for Finance (1994-1996)
- Free State MEC for Tourism and Environmental Affairs (1997-1999)
- Free State MEC for Agriculture (1999-2003)
- Chair of Chairs in the Free State Legislature (2001-2004)
- Free State MEC for Public Safety, Security and Liaison (2004-2005)
- Free State MEC for Finance (2005-2009)
- Free State MEC for Education (2009- 2023)
The premier said arrangements for the late Makgoe’s funeral will be announced in due course. – The Free Stater