SA’s oldest woman shares her secrets
AS SOUTH Africa celebrates International Day for the Elderly today, Johanna Ramatse, who turned 130 in January, goes down in the record books as the oldest person in the country.
Ramatse’s mother had also lived well into old age.
She had used the traditional method of covering herself in fresh cow dung in the morning to strengthen her muscles and shape her body. The dung would be removed when it was dry, said Ramatse’s 91-year-old daughter, Wilhelmina Phiri.
Tough love and making the right decisions had kept her alive so far, Ramatse said.
“I carried my parents’ lessons into adulthood,” she told reporters from The Mercury’s sister paper, the Pretoria News during a visit to her Stinkwater house outside Hammanskraal yesterday.
She said she had also carried the teachings of the church close to her heart.
Ramatse boasted that she had never had to consult doctors except for losing her eyesight earlier this year.
Living with her daughter, Ramatse is surrounded by five generations of family.
She said when the doctors had come to test her recently, they were amazed at her state of health.
Ramatse said she had always followed a strict diet, consisting mainly of vegetables and as little meat as possible.
“I will not eat pork and chicken feet. Who eats those?” she asked.
“She has no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no back pains, nor forgetfulness,” Phiri said.
Ramatse recalled how her own mother had taught her never to fear hard work.
She is the only surviving child of 11 children, of whom she was the eldest.
Yesterday Ramatse’s family all agreed the old woman was a source of wisdom.
Her 19-year-old great-grandchild Simphiwe Maphosa said: “She has been a guide and adviser to us for as long as we have known. We love her.”