HEALTHY food, respect for her parents and fear of God are the secrets of Gogo Tshintshiwe Kambe’s long life.
The 112-year-old gogo from Govan Mbeki kasi received a wheelchair from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality on Friday.
At the presentation, she spoke about her childhood.
“I grew up eating a lot of vegetables and fruit. Meat was not an everyday meal in our diet,” she said. “I was a very respectful child and I listened to my parents. They taught me to respect myself. My parents also taught me about the importance of knowing God and acting according to His laws.”
Gogo said today’s youth have short lives because they have no morals. Today’s generation have no respect for their elders. They throw their future down the drain by using drugs and drinking lots of alcohol.
“I think the kids of today are very spoilt. They want to have pocket money. In our days we used to get clothes once a year,” she said.
Gogo Tshintshiwe is so old that all the people she grew up with have died. So have six of her children.
She’s now left with one daughter, Daniswa Kambe, who is 80.
Gogo considers herself blessed to have seen three generations, which includes her seven children, 22 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 33 great-great grandchildren.
“I thank God for my long and healthy life,” she said.
