A resident of Tsianda Village, Mr Mmboneni Steven Matodzi, wants everybody to know that he is still alive and kicking.

This follows what he described as a miraculous recovery from a number of deadly illnesses.

Matodzi said that things started to go in a downward spiral when he started losing weight at the beginning of last year. He consulted with numerous local medical practitioners, but they could not diagnose the nature of his disease. After several tests in May last year, he was discovered to be suffering from five life-threatening illnesses: TB, diabetes, pneumonia, peptic ulcers and hypertension.

He was referred to a private hospital in Louis Trichardt where he was admitted for a week before he was transferred to a Polokwane-based private hospital. He spent several months in that hospital. Matodzi said that he was gravely ill when he was released from hospital.

As his condition was deteriorating fast, his family members took him to Elim Hospital, against his will. After staying for few days at Elim, Matodzi demanded to be discharged, saying his soul would rest in peace if he died in the care of his wife.

Matodzi remembers that it was on a Thursday when he was discharged from Elim Hospital on his own insistence. Although he was bedridden, Matodzi requested his wife to hire a car and take him to church on Sunday. He mentions that it was after the pastor prayed for him that he started to feel changes in his body.

Although all the pains vanished immediately, it was difficult for Matodzi to get up as he was as thin as a skeleton. He regained weight as days went by and he finally resumed his work as a community development worker on 1 July this year.

He states that he lost all his friends at the time of his illness, especially after the rumour spread widely that he had passed away.

Matodzi says that he is now a man of God, gifted with healing powers. Matodzi indicates that his illness taught him to believe that no disease is incurable with God. He warns the people to refrain from the practice of concluding that people are dead before their actual death.