The North West Provincial Government has applied to the Presidency for an official provincial funeral for former Bophuthatswana leader Kgosi Lucas Mangope.
The province’s Director General and two MEC’s visited the Gaetsho palace of the royal Mangope family in Motswedi village near Zeerust on Sunday morning.
They met with the family and offered their condolences and discussed the funeral arrangements.
The 94-year-old died at a nearby hospital on Thursday evening after having been rushed there earlier that day.
Director-General Dr Lydia Sebego, Local Government and Human Settlements MEC, Ms Fenny Gaolaolwe, and MEC for Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs (CATA), Ms Ontlametse Mochware expressed their commitment to give Mr Mangope a dignified funeral.
“We have hence applied to the Presidency to give Re Kgosi Lucas Mangope a provincial official funeral, Category 1. We are however still waiting for their response. Upon receipt thereof, we will work together with the family to bury Re Kgosi Lucas Mangope on January 27 at 06:00, here in Motswedi,” says Mochware.
Kgosi Mangope was rushed to hospital on Thursday, about a week after having been prescribed antibiotics and vitamins by a doctor.
His nephew Bathoeng Mangope says he was called by the family…. “When I got here, I found them here. I checked the vitals BP, pulse and respiration and they were not satisfactory. So we consulted and decided to rather give him an opportunity, if we can, to let him live and so we decided to take him to the hospital. So when we got to the hospital, the doctor came and unfortunately declared him dead.”
A memorial service is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
