Free State education MEC Pule Herbert “Tate” Makgoe, who was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning when the car he was travelling in hit two cows on the N1 outside Winburg, Free State, was an underground MK operative in the 1980s while qualifying as a chemical engineer.
During five years in jail after being arrested he completed a BCom degree through the University of South Africa, followed by a BCom Honours degree after his release.
He was made MEC for finance in the first post-apartheid Free State provincial government in 1994 and MEC for education in 2009. For seven of the 13 years he held this post, Free State schools achieved the top matric results in the country, the past three years with an 85.1% matric pass rate in 2020, 85.7% in 2021 and 88.5% in 2022.
Makgoe was born May 12 1963 in the township of Tumahole in Parys, where he attended Lembede Lower Primary, Mmabatho Higher Primary and Phehellang Secondary before matriculating at Residensia Secondary school in Sebokeng, where he excelled at maths and science.
After school he was awarded an AECI bursary to study chemical engineering at the Vaal Triangle Technikon (now Vaal University of Technology).
Meanwhile, he became active in the anti-apartheid struggle as a member of the Tumahole Students Organisation, which became part of the United Democratic Front.
In spite of his well-known intellectual capabilities he had a reputation as a street fighter who was not to be messed with, which earned him the name “Tate” after the 1979-80 American world heavyweight boxing champion.
While studying chemical engineering at the Vaal Triangle Technikon, he began working underground for uMkhonto weSizwe, the military wing of the ANC.
In spite of his well-known intellectual capabilities he had a reputation as a street fighter who was not to be messed with, which earned him the name 'Tate' after the 1979-80 American world heavyweight boxing champion.
He graduated as a chemical engineer, and in 1984 he was instructed to leave the country for military training in Lesotho, after which he became an operative moving arms and ammunition between Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and underground cells in South Africa.
In 1986 he was arrested with four others who, known as the “Welkom trialists”, were sentenced to five years at Sun City prison in Johannesburg. He was released in 1991.
He then obtained a BCom Honours degree at the University of the Free State and a Master's degree in Business Leadership from Unisa.
He was sworn in as a member of the Free State provincial legislature in 1994 and was MEC for finance, for tourism and environmental affairs, for agriculture and for public safety and security before being made MEC for education in 2009.
He was completely hands-on. He visited schools all the time, workshopped with principals and teachers, engaged with school governing bodies and local communities and solicited the partnership of NGOs and private sector companies in teacher capacity building programmes, funding facilities such as laboratories at township schools and university sponsorships for the top 100 performing students every year.
Science laboratories were particularly close to his heart. When he arrived at a school he insisted on being shown the laboratory, where he wasted no time donning a white lab coat and helping students with their chemistry experiments.
He encouraged schools to prioritise maths and physics. He strongly discouraged maths lit. His favourite topic of conversation was the fourth industrial revolution and robotics.
Makgoe, who was completing his PhD in Leadership in Education at the time of his death, was awarded an honorary doctorate by Vaal University of Technology in 2021.
Also in 2021 he received the Central University of Technology’s Chancellor’s Excellence Award for his contribution to the advancement of education.
Makgoe is survived by his wife Ivy and three children, two of whom are engineers.
W/O Piet Mdi, a VIP police protection officer, died in the accident with Makgoe. The driver of the vehicle, W/O Richard Nkopane, survived the crash and is in hospital in a critical condition.
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