{"id":63536,"date":"2025-04-10T11:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T09:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/mthathaexpress\/poto-celebrates-111th-birthday-in-comfort\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T16:05:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:05:05","slug":"poto-celebrates-111th-birthday-in-comfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/mthathaexpress\/poto-celebrates-111th-birthday-in-comfort\/","title":{"rendered":"Patensie resident celebrates 111th birthday in new home after years of living in shack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After waiting many years for a home to call his own, Poto Dyantyisi from Patensie recently celebrated his 111th birthday in the comfort of a warm home surrounded by his family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As previously reported, Poto moved into his son Joseph&#8217;s shack in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, he faced various challenges since the shack was cold in winter and very hot in summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, Poto&#8217;s health deteriorated, leading to many health complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, in 2024, shortly after his 110th birthday, he opened the door to his fully furnished home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new home was built through the Department of Human Settlements&#8217; Destitute and Vulnerable Groups Programme, and formed part of a collaboration between the department, Kouga Municipality, and the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since moving into his new home in July 2024, Joseph said that his father&#8217;s lifestyle and health have improved greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When we were staying in the shack we really battled when it rained and when it was cold, but now my father is living in much better conditions,&#8221; said Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Even though he is getting older, he is doing well.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph further said that his father spent his birthday with family and friends with the highlight being a visit from Sarah Baartman District Municipality Executive Mayor, Deon de Vos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that De Vos checks up on his father regularly and genuinely cares for his well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We appreciate Mayor De Vos for his assistance and concern for my father,&#8221; said Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It is great to see that the Sarah Baartman District Municipality is looking after older people.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since he has had to leave work to take care of his father full time, Joseph said that they appreciate all the assistance they have received thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that while his father now lives in a safe and happy environment, their biggest concern is the dirt road from the main road leading to their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph said that the state of the road makes it difficult to transport his father to the nearest healthcare facility during rainy periods when his health deteriorates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that ambulances often struggle to reach their home when the roads become muddy after rainfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I become stressed whenever it starts raining because my father&#8217;s health deteriorates in wet weather. I never know when an emergency will arise and he needs to go to the hospital,&#8221; said Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that he hopes the roads will be upgraded soon to improve accessibility to their home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poto Dyantyisi&#8217;s 111th birthday became a celebration of new beginnings in his warm home with family and friends around 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left are Poto Dyantyisi and Sarah Baartman District Municipality Executive Mayor, Deon de Vos.                                                                                                                     PHOTO: SUPPLIED","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Poto celebrates 111th birthday in 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