ALI MPHAKI
DEATH has cut short the life of Ephraim Molefi Pooe, plunging his family, friends and neighbours into grief. He was 65.
Known to many as “E”, Pooe, who was a man of many talents, succumbed to an intestinal bug at Victoria Pri- vate Hospital in Mahikeng last Friday.
He was an elder brother to popular Soweto medico Dr Shotts Pooe.
In his life journey, which began on July 5, 1947 in Western Native Township, Pooe was a boxer, soccer player, activist, teacher, researcher, banker and father.
At the time of his death he was studying theology with the aim of becoming a deacon in the Methodist Church.
The second-born in a family of three boys and a girl, Pooe was a conscientious pupil. His yearning for further education saw him enrol at the University of the North (now Limpopo) where he obtained his BA degree, majoring in English, in 1972.
He played football for the erstwhile mighty Rockville Hungry Lions in Soweto.
He went on to be crowned the SA Students Association InterVarsity lightweight champion in 1971 after flooring almost all his opponents.
His first job was at a research company in Braamfontein. He then went on to teach at the then famous Wilberforce College for two years before coming back to Rockville, and joined Standard Bank as a teller.
In 1983 he married his sweetheart Audrey Maphefo Mogotsi, and they were blessed with two sons.
In 1986 he was transferred to Mmabatho, where he continued to work for Standard Bank for the next five years before joining the Department of Labour as a senior consultant.
Pooe was the life and soul of any gathering, and with his wisecracks would have anyone listening to him in stitches. And he loved to dance.
Pooe will be buried tomorrow after a funeral service at Uncle Tom’s Hall in Orlando West at 9am.
The cortege will proceed to the Lenasia Cemetery at 11am.