Africa-Press – South-Africa. Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe, 59, and his bodyguard, Warrant Officer Vuyo Mdi, died in a car crash on the N1, outside Winburg, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Their driver Pule Nkopane survived and was rushed to Winburg Hospital, Sello Dithebe, spokesperson for Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana, said on Sunday.
“Free State emergency services crews responded to an accident outside Winburg on the N1 at about 01:30. On arrival, they found a light motor vehicle which had collided with three stray cows, and three occupants were trapped inside [the vehicle],” Dithebe said.
He said the crew tried to free the occupants, but Makgoe and Mdi were both declared dead on the scene.
Dukwana later visited the accident scene and in a media briefing on Sunday said it had been horrific.
According to Dukwana, the MEC had been driving back from a meeting in Gauteng and was headed to Free State for a morning church service.
“We only know that he had a meeting in Johannesburg and was travelling back because he had an appointment. He was going to be attending a church service in Heidedal (in Bloemfontein) around 09:00 today. That is why he insisted [on] driving in the early hours for him to be here,” he said.
Lauding Makgoe’s successes, Dukwana said he was a long-serving member of the Executive Committee and a member of the Free State legislature.
Dukwana said Makgoe served in various capacities with dedication after joining the government during the advent of a democratic South Africa.
Served with ‘distinction’ in all areas
“The industrious Makgoe served his people and his country with the utmost of distinction in all his areas of deployment, especially in the education sector.”
Makgoe was born on 12 May 1963 in Tumahole, Parys.
He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce honours degree from the University of the Free State and later, a Master’s degree in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa.
He then enrolled for his PhD in Leadership in Education with the University of the Free State.
Between 1998 and 2001, Makgoe served as provincial treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of the ANC in the Free State. He later took on the role of Chair of Chairs in the Free State legislature, between 2001 and 2004.
In subsequent years, he filled the role as the Free State MEC for Public Safety, Security and Liaison in 2004 for one year, and later moved on to become Free State MEC for Finance.
He took over the provincial education portfolio in 2009.
Makgoe made headlines this year after Free State clinched the number one spot in the matric results for the fourth year in a row.
The province obtained an 88.5% pass rate, an increase of 2.8% from 2021.
Dukwana said:
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga described Makgoe as a “trailblazer of note”.
“I have no words to express my deepest shock at the news of the untimely passing of Comrade Tate,” she said in a statement on Sunday morning.
“When I was appointed Minister of Basic Education, he was also appointed MEC of Education in the Free State and has been in the position ever since.
“The success of the province in education can be attributed mainly to his leadership, dedication, understanding of the sector and the innovation which has yielded great results. I am saddened by his passing.”
Motshekga said his death was a huge loss.
“Tate was simply the best ever. He contributed immensely not only in Free State education, but in the sector generally. He was hard working, highly gifted, but humble and respectful to all.”
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said Makgoe had made invaluable contributions.
“His passing is an insurmountable loss to our sector – however, the standards he has set will remain as a legacy which will continue to inspire generations of leaders to come.”
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