Makgoe to be laid on Sunday

Staff reporter

Bloemfontein – Free State MEC of Education, Tate Makgoe who turned the fortunes of basic education in the province in many consecutive years, will be laid to rest on Sunday in Bloemfontein.

Makgoe’s funeral service will be held at the University of Free State (UFS) main campus from 8am to 12 midday, and he will later be buried in the local cemetery.

His memorial services will be held in various parts of Free State, with the main memorial service to be held on Thursday at UFS in Bloemfontein.
Other services to held in remembrance of the education MEC in the province will be held on Wednesday, where all services will run concomitantly in districts such as Thabo Mofutsanyana, Fezile Dabi, Lejweleputswa and Xhariep from 11am.

Acting education MEC Makalo Mohale will be attending the memorial service to be held at Phehellang secondary school in Parys.

Makgoe died in the wee hours of Sunday morning with his bodyguard Warrant Officer Vuyo Mdi at the accident scene when the car they were travelling in had hit stray cows on N1 freeway, near Winburg, a small farming town which is 120 km away from Bloemfontein.

It is still not clear on how the cows which the car had hit were coming from and the police are still busy investigating.

A driver of the vehicle Makgoe was travelling in survived the crash and he is still in hospital to recover from his injuries.

The Free State provincial government has since set up a committee to arrange Makgoe’s funeral and a series of memorial services across the province.

Makgoe’s life will be celebrated during a series of memorial services across the province, and his mortal remains will be transported this week from Welkom mortuary to Bloemfontein escourted by his family, top government officials and his family.

A committee that was setup on Sunday by the Premier of Free State, Mxolisi Dukwana, to prepare for Makgoe’s funeral is already hard at work and on Tuesday, a decision to have proceedings to get underway was taken.

On Sunday morning between 7am and 8am, there will be a viewing of mortal remains before the funeral of the departed MEC and a staunch member of the ANC could commence.

Makgoe was a celebrated MEC, whose run as an education title-holder had showed many provinces a clean pair of shoes through great matric pass rate results produced by Free State in four consecutive years.
After the matric results for 2022 which were released in January this year and where Free State had obtained a remarkable pass rate of 88.5% pass rate, Makgoe said that it was pivotal to safeguard that education is accessible to learners, making a point that this should be a priority to pupils who come from townships and rural areas.

Makgoe had celebrated with the Top 100 achievers of the province at the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein, where he said that he was thrilled by the resilience and passion which was displayed by the Matric Class of 2022 in the province.

Closing the gap between rural and urban schools is one of the main reasons the Free State keeps winning. Free State MEC for Education, Tate Makgoe could not be more prouder of the 2022 cohort who obtained 88.5 % in the matric finals.

Through his love to wear his signature white suits, Makgoe was forever grateful that the future of the children of Free State was glowing under his guidance.

“I am elated with the results coming from the township schools because they show that there is nothing wrong with the black child, and I knew at all times that achievement and success of these great children was within reach,” said Makgoe at the ceremony his department had held at CUT in January.

Rest In Peace MEC