DA wants Public Protector to investigate R3.5 million spent on Makgoe’s funeral

The Democratic Alliance in the Free State says it will ask the Public Protector to investigate the R3.5 million allegedly spent on the funeral of the Education MEC Tate Makgoe.

The provincial party leader Roy Jankielsohn says Premier Mxolisi Dukwana revealed in the legislature that costs included food and beverages.

“These included food and beverages for R1 288 500,00, various performing artists for R355 000,00, flowers for R59 000,00, 20 couches for the family and dignitaries at two events costing a total of R28 380,00, a casket and burial plot for R130 900,00 and various other items that included lighting, stages, red carpets, projectors, and toilets among many others.”

The DA says it is concerned that the service provider that was used during the Education MEC Tate Makgoe’s funeral was C-Squared Consumer Connectedness which has faced highly publicised court challenges and a Hawks investigation.

Jankielsohn says the Hawks probe was into alleged irregularities in the 2022 Macufe festival tender. Jankielson claims that the purported R3.5 million spent on Makgoe’s burial defies Premier Mxolisi Dukwana’s vow to reduce expenditure.

“It is obvious that the ANC government in the Free State has used his funeral to plunder the provincial government resources.” If the ANC-run government in the Free State wanted to commemorate the legacy of former MEC for Education Tate Makgoe then this money could have been spent in a better use to assist Cash strapped the former department of education in the province.