The family of a Joza octogenarian celebrated her 85th birthday in style as friends and family came together at her home on Sunday.
The family of a Joza octogenarian celebrated her 85th birthday in style as friends and family came together at her home on Sunday.
Born on 18 January, 1925 in Alexandria, Khanyelwa Dili is a retired domestic worker. Her list of former employers includes the late Messrs TH Miller and DP Hodgson and Father Lefeuver. According to her daughter Thembisa Niwa, her mother is very strict and talkative.
“As the only child she gave birth to, I want to thank my mother for raising me,” Thembisa told the friends and family members who came to celebrate the grand occasion with them. “Today I have fulfilled my dream of expressing my gratitude to her, because I grew up in her family as I didn’t have close contact with my father’s side.”
All three of her own children were brought up by their feisty granny because both Niwa and her husband David had fulltime jobs. “She used to prepare meals for our family and have them delivered to us,” David remembers fondly.
Hombile Sonanze, a friend who hosted the occasion said the Bible estimates that a person’s lifespan is around 70 years and that reaching the eighties is a bonus. Some guests wondered aloud if they would ever reach Dili’s grand age.
Gogo Dili attributed her ong life to her rural upbringing on a farm near Alexandria where she used herd cattle and eat fresh meat and vegetables. “I am active, something which I have kept up since my early childhood,” she explained. “I always find myself work to do.”
She said that due to growing up on a farm she was forced to walk long distances and that for even longer distances she said she rode an ox wagon. The other secrets to her longevity are prayer, attending church and keeping in touch with her family.
