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The late Granny Tshinyelo Dora Muzila.

Granny Tshinyelo Muzila (127) passes away

 

A local senior citizen and arguably the world’s oldest person, granny Tshinyelo Dora Muzila, died at the age of 127 at her home at Ha-Rathidili on Monday.

She was born at Vhuvhirwa, next to the Mberengwa mountains in Zimbabwe on May 4, 1880. When Mirror visited her two years ago, she was left with one only tooth, but was reported to be still enjoying rice, chicken, soft porridge and white bread. At that stage, she had not yet lost sight, but she was only experiencing a hearing problem.

She told Mirror that she was the first born of her late mother. She outlived four of her five children.

During our visit two years ago, Granny Muzila was looking strong and healthy, clearly indicating that her caretaker, Mrs Sarah Ndouvhada, a domestic worker, and her grandchildren at Louis Trichardt, were not neglecting her.

When she was 125, Muzila was still able to walk from her room to the kitchen without using a stick, but it was her swollen legs that forced her to crawl at times. She was commonly known as Vho-Juffrou and she once said that the secret behind her longevity was her love for the Word of God. During her lifetime, she was a senior member of the United African Apostolic Church. She once indicated that when she became a born again Christian long ago, indigenous people used to laugh at her because the Word of God was something strange to them.

Muzila used to go around with her donkey cart, praying and healing those who were sick, visually impaired and disabled. As a result, she was nicknamed Luhwairi as a result of her spiritual powers.

She died without remembering the year she got married and the year she gave birth to her first born. When she was 125, Muzila had 13 grandchildren and more than 20 great-grandchildren.

According to her caretaker, Mrs Sarah Ndouvhada, the granny will be laid to rest on Sunday, January 27 at Rathidili cemetery. The family is yet to announce the time of the funeral service.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Edna Parker of Shelbyville is the world’s oldest person at the age of 114, following the death of Yone Minagawa of Japan, who died at age 114.

News - Date: 18 January 2008

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Nthambeleni Gabara

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