“The only difference between our generation and the current one is that we used to listen when the elders spoke,” said Nohayilo Manisi who, at 105, is believed to be the oldest person in Khayelitsha. “The current generation does as they please. They don’t care.” This Makhaza grandmother has “seen it all and I’m now eating a bonus in life.”
She said she lives as any other person and believes there is nothing particularly special about her longevity.
How simple food shaped Nohayilo Manisi’s longevity
“The only difference is that I don’t eat everything the way today’s generation does. I prefer simple foods, such as samp, beans or pap. My grandchildren make their own meals and sometimes I eat with them because they insist, but I prefer dry food.”
Sharing a birthday with Nelson Mandela
Manisi, who turns 106 on 18 July, shared a birthday with “Madiba”, the international human-rights and social-justice icon, the late former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Reflecting on her upbringing, she said she grew up herding cattle and walking more than 5 km every morning to fetch water from the river.
“I never went to school in my life. We grew up planting crops and herding cattle in the veld. We did everything with our own hands. In those days we walked long distances.”
Originally from Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, Manisi comes from the AbaThembu royal house. She had eight children, of whom only three are still alive. The soft-spoken matriarch said the main changes she has experienced with age are blurred vision and knee problems.
“Besides that I don’t feel anything. I don’t have high blood pressure, diabetes or arthritis. I bath myself and can still move around the yard. One thing I have noticed is some memory loss.”
One of her children, Zoleka Manisi (56), described her mother as energetic and independent. “My mother is a strict person. We grew up playing indoors because she didn’t want us outside. She loves people.”
Generosity and Community Values in Khayelitsha
Granddaughter Thandokazi Manisi (37) echoes this, adding her generosity to the mix. “If there is a visitor, my grandma will sacrifice her plate and give it to the visitor. Sometimes when she sees a person passing by she calls that person in and asks us to give him food or something to drink.” It is a tendency that grandmother and granddaughter don’t always see eye to eye on.
Manisi has 13 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
