Madiba meets 134-year-old

2008-09-05 22:21

Johannesburg - A group of 18 elderly South Africans - including a 134-year-old woman from Limpopo - met former president Nelson Mandela at his offices in Johannesburg on Friday.

Centenarian "Koko" Moloko Temo, from Mohadi ga Manthata village, was accompanied by her 89-year-old daughter Eveline, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.

Temo, who was born on July 4, 1874, found it more comfortable to sit on the floor rather than in her wheelchair and sang a special birthday song she had composed for Mandela, who turned 90 on July 18.

The South Africa Olde Person's Forum's visit was the idea of Masindi Wilson Mufamadi from Vhembe District, in Limpopo.

"I am so happy, I will sleep nicely. It is my day today. Its all right, I can die today, I don't care," said Mufamadi, who lived in Alexandra in 1950s and first met Mandela when he was a lawyer at Chancellor House in Johannesburg.

The 18 cheered, ululated and sang for Mandela, then presented him with gifts including a portrait of himself painted on the skin of a goat from Ethiopia "because he trained to be a guerrilla in Ethiopia", said Tom Boya, an executive member of the forum.

He was referring to the period in 1962 when Mandela visited various African countries to raise support for the African National Congress and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, the foundation said.

After his tour, which included a trip to London, Mandela was arrested on August 5, 1962 and was charged with inciting a strike and leaving the country illegally.

He was sentenced to five years in jail. He was brought back from prison to stand trial for sabotage in the infamous Rivonia Trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with seven others on June 12, 1964 and was released on February 11, 1990.

- SAPA