24 Apr 2018

President Mokgweetsi Masisi on April 24 paid condolences to the family of former Permanent Secretary of the then Ministry of Health, Ms Batatu Tafa.

President Masisi was accompanied by Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Shaw Kgathi.

Ms Tafa, also the wife of Justice Abednigo Tafa, held various positions in the public service before finally serving as Permanent Secretary prior to her retirement, passed on at Bokamoso Private Hospital on April 19 after a long illness.

According to her daughter, Ms Tapiwa Tafa, the deceased succumbed to colon cancer after a lengthy battle with the disease.

She said her mother, who was aged 67, will be laid to rest on April 26 at Phomolong cemetery in Phakalane, Gaborone.

During her years in the public service, the Nshakazhogwe-born served in different ministries and departments in different capacities.

She started service at the Ministry of Agriculture in 1975 before she was seconded to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration in 1983.

Thereafter the late Ms Tafa served as deputy director in the then Department of Information and Broadcasting Services from 1992, after which she became director at the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM).

Ms Tafa was elevated to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, where she served until her retirement in 2013. 

 She is survived by her husband and four children; three males and a female. ENDS