Observations of molecular gas in galaxies at all redshifts are critical for measuring the cosmic evolution in molecular gas density ( \Omega _ { H _ { 2 } } ( z ) ) and understanding the star-formation history of the Universe . The ^ { 12 } CO molecule ( \nu _ { rest } for the J =1 \rightarrow 0 rotational transition = 115.27 GHz ) is the best proxy for extragalactic molecular hydrogen ( H _ { 2 } ) , which is the gas reservoir from which star formation occurs . The detection of CO at high-redshift has been a growing industry over the last few years with successful molecular gas detections out to z \sim 6 . Typically , redshifted high- J transitions are observed using mm-wave instruments , with the most commonly targeted systems being those with high star formation rates such as submm galaxies , and far-infrared-bright quasars . While the most luminous objects are naturally the most readily observed , observations of the typical members of the galaxy population which exhibit modest star-formation rates are essential for completing the picture . The arrival of ALMA will be revolutionary in terms of increasing the detection rate and pushing the sensitivity limit down to include more normal star-forming galaxies , however the limited field-of-view when observing at such high frequencies makes it difficult to use ALMA for studies of the large-scale structure traced out by molecular gas in galaxies . This article introduces a strategy for a systematic search for molecular gas during the Epoch of Reionization ( z \sim 7 and above ) , capitalizing on the fact that the J =1 \rightarrow 0 transition of ^ { 12 } CO enters the upper frequency bands of cm-wave instruments at the appropriate redshift . The field-of-view advantage gained by observing at such frequencies , coupled with modern broadband correlators allows significant cosmological volumes to be surveyed on reasonable timescales . In this article we present an overview of our proposed observing programme which has been awarded 6,500 hours as one of the Large Survey Projects for MeerKAT , the forthcoming South African Square Kilometre Array pathfinder instrument . Its large field of view and correlator bandwidth , and high-sensitivity provide unprecedented survey speed for such work . An existing astrophysical simulation is coupled with instrumental considerations to demonstrate the feasibility of such observations and predict detection rates .