A scientist ‘stolen’ by law
Kagiso Sekokonyane | Monday July 1, 2024 09:23
This was explicitly ventilated by his friends, family members and his colleagues at work. The late judge was laid to rest in his home village, Machaneng last Saturday. Multitudes thronged Machaneng to bid their last farewell to Makgato. The mood turned purely sombre as his younger brother, Calvin, gave the mourners an update on the sickness that eventually cut short his life. He could not hold back tears as his eulogy was interrupted by painful sobs. He was sick but not to a point where they had thought he would ultimately succumb to the illness. There were points where they thought it was a matter of time before he would leave his Gaborone Private Hospital bed to go back to his house. Things turned for the worst on June 15 when at night he breathed his last having fallen ill on June 1. He had travelled to Maun to attend a funeral of a former colleague. A man of many names, among them Pele, The Pearl, Pelish, was described by his former schoolmates as an exceptionally intelligent student when it came to Mathematics and Science subjects. Thus, after completion of his secondary school education at Madiba Senior Secondary School, he enrolled for the Pre-Entry Science Course (PESC) at the University of Botswana. But, unbeknown to his colleagues, he quit and later went back to enrol for a law degree. According to one of his friends, Banyatsi Mmekwa, he met Gaedupe when they enrolled for PESC at UB. “We quit together although we were not sure if we were making the right decision at the time. But, we came back and registered for the law degree,” he said.
They then became room-mates for four years and their friendship remained intact until he passed on. Mmekwa tickled the mourners when he reminisced a story about his (Mmekwa) marriage. Judge Makgato was his best man. He said when ‘Pele’ was signing for him, he categorically told him that “it is for the long haul because letsogo la gagwe le monate. But along the way I got out of the marriage and I realised that letsogo la gagwe le bosula.” Another friend, Professor Seraga Motsamai, who was with Makgato at Madiba, said Makgato was extremely intelligent. He referred to him as a scientist. According to him, “law stole Makgato from engineering,” a sentiment noted by the family in his obituary. “While we thought he would be a scientist of note, Gaedupe then decided to veer off course and was admitted to do a Bachelor of Law still with the UB, which degree he completed in 1996.” He said to demonstrate that Makgato valued education, in 2010 he enrolled with the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he obtained a Master of Law (LLM) degree. At the time of his death, Judge Makgato was in the last stages of completing his PhD in Law with the University of South Africa (UNISA). According to Prof Motsamai, Judge Makgato faced an obstacle of not acquiring his PhD allegedly because “a local examiner denied him the opportunity while other examiners, including an external examiner had passed his thesis.” Makgatho was described as an accomplished author, having co-authored a book in 2012 titled, ‘Labour Law and Constitution – Contemporary Challenges and Prospects’.
He has also published several journal articles within the area of Human Rights which have all been referenced by academics over the years. The Judge President of the Industrial Court, Diratsagae Molomo described Makgato as an astute judge who delivered his mandate with diligence. He said Judge Makgato was never one to want his judgments to be overturned by the High Court. As such, he was meticulous in his delivery of his judgments. To continue the legacy of Judge Makgato, Molomo requested that a trust be formed to honour his legacy as he used to support school children in the village. While a Magistrate, one of his written judgments attracted a deserving compliment from a High Court Judge who said: “The judgment of the Magistrate G.L. Makgato is the best structured judgment I have read in a long time... The record of proceedings in some 200 pages long excluding attachments thereto, the Magistrate had to consider the evidence of 45 witnesses... Admirably, he was able to analyse the evidence and to deal with all important aspects of the case... I adopt his judgment for this purpose.” This was viewed as a compliment a junior court could receive. Alhough he excelled at playing table tennis, it was in soccer where he proved his worth with his remarkable skill playing as a striker and he earned himself monikers such as ‘The African Pele’, ‘Pele’ and ‘The Pelish’ after the famous Brazilian soccer icon, Edison Arentes do Nascimento. Born on July 24, 1971 in Machaneng, Judge Makgato is survived by his parents, four siblings, two sons, two sisters-in-law as well as six nephews and nieces.