Monday, 6 March 2023: The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State Province (FS) learned with shock of the tragic passing away of comrade Tate Makgoe and his protector in a car accident in the early hours of yesterday, 05 March 2023. The SACP in Free State extends sincere condolences to their families, friends and relatives. Society at large and the ANC, which comrade Tate served dedicatedly till his last breath, has become poorer as a result of this loss of lives.
The SACP also extends well wishes to the driver, who is receiving medical attention in hospital and wishes him a speedy recovery and urges strength to his family and friends.
Comrade Tate was an outstanding activist and servant who dedicated most of his life working through the people's liberation movement, the ANC and the democratic government it leads to serve wholeheartedly.
Having joined the struggle during the apartheid era and fighting for the liberation struggle since the 1980s, comrade Tate continued to show remarkable fortitude and commitment to the struggle to end apartheid-cum-colonialism. Comrade Tate contributed immensely towards the liberation struggle aimed at building a better life for all, especially for the historically marginalised, oppressed and exploited blacks in general and Africans in particular. Consequently, he rose through the ranks to lead the ANC at various levels and contributed immensely and consistently in service to the people and the country.
Since the 1994 democratic breakthrough, which amongst others brought the ANC into government, comrade Tate continued to serve in government in different capacities, including as MEC for difference Departments. At every instance in his deployments by the movement, he understood that the point was to use state capacity and power to improve the lives of the people and build resilient government systems capable of producing the best results.
Comrade Tate's immeasurable contribution, amongst others, in the education sector is commendable in that his leadership style and approach succeeded in building an oiled output-based system that consistently produced the best education results in the country, despite the resources and infrastructural limitations in a developing province like the Free State. We should explore the impact of his consistent deployment in education towards affording him and the leadership collective the time to innovate and master the trade to produce good results consistently.
In his honour, the province should preserve and enhance the good he has built and instilled in education over the years and share our good practices with the rest of the country and continue to live up to the highest performance standards expected of our province.
In paying tribute to comrade Tate for a life of service well lived, the SACP urges the ANC and the movement to honour Comrade Tate by remaining undeterred in carrying through the agenda of Renewal and Unity, both in our expressions and through action.
The Renewal and Unity agenda must unite all progressive forces committed to the revitalisation of the movement, including renewing and reconfiguring the revolutionary alliance. Such an agenda must deal decisively with wrong tendencies that weaken the movement, whilst working systematically to reconnect the movement with the mass-base through tangible and selfless implementation of our programme for fundamental socio-economic transformation that must change the lives of society for the better.
In Comrade Tate's memory, the SACP in Free State Province expects our democratic government and our movement to foster and emulate the ethos and values of selfless service and excellence in all we do, as bequeathed to us by Comrade Tate through his political and government work over time.
ISSUED BY THE SACP FREE STATE PROVINCE
Contact:
Bhekie Stofile – SACP Free State Provincial Secretary
Mobile: 071 600 4899
Phillip Kganyago – SACP Free State Provincial Spokesperson
Mobile: 071 896 0157
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP
EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA
Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo,
Central Committee and Political Bureau Member:
Spokesperson and Secretary for Policy and Research
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