South Africa’s centenarians

Corrie WIJNBEEK lived through two World Wars, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. She passed away on 13 July 2021 at the age of 108 in Swartruggens. She was living with her son, Dirk WIJNBEEK (75), a Gereformeerde Kerk minister, and his wife, Nelriet, who looked after her.

Cornelia Geertje VAN DER BURGH (aka Corrie) was born on 18 February 1913 in Den Haag, The Netherlands. She married on December 8, 1937, and had five children. During WWI, her husband, Dirk Hendrik Petrus WIJNBEEK (13 Jan 1914 – Jul 1981), was a prisoner-of-war in Germany, and one of her sons, Dirkie, died at home. She immigrated to South Africa in 1949 with her husband and four children. They rented a home in Johannesburg before buying land in Bodmin Street, New Redruth, Alberton, and building a house. Dirk Hendrik Petrus worked in the paint business in Alberton, where Corrie lived for 58 years. In those early years in New Redruth, the roads were still untarred, and there was no sewage system in place; a night wagon came through twice per week to empty the buckets.

A daughter, Yvonne, and her husband, Willem RAS, were killed in a car hijacking on the N12 near Eldorado Park in 2008. Her other son, Marinus (28 August 1939–02 August 2020), was a well-known scientist, journalist, and SABC TV presenter. He was a lecturer for 9 years before he joined the SABC as science editor. In 1979, the SABC started broadcasting the Afrikaans science magazine show Brandkluis for four seasons, in which Marinus, as a presenter, discussed science subjects. He immigrated to the Netherlands in September 1996 with his wife, Annatjie. He founded Kempton Park Technical College. Another daughter is Beatrix VAN DER WALT, who lives in Brackenhurst, Alberton.

After a break-in at her flat in Alberton, she moved in with Dirk and Nelriet. In 2013 they moved from Steynsburg in the Eastern Cape to Swartruggens. She had 14 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. At the time of her death, Corrie was the second-oldest living Dutch emigrant, after Catharina VAN DER LINDEN (born 26 August2) of Adelaide, Australia.

Ella Johanna POTGIETER, age 101, tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2021 and survived. Ella Johanna THERON was born on 22 July 1920 in Middelburg, Eastern Cape. Her family moved to Pretoria when she was four years old. She attended Laerskool Oost-Eind in Sunnyside and Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool. Ella is the high school’s oldest living past student, celebrating her 100th birthday in the school’s centenary year. She left school in Grade 10 to work on the family farm in Rosslyn. She married Barend Jacobus Daniel POTGIETER (14 August 1916–12 October 1988) on 8 November 1941. She worked as a school secretary at Laerskool Akasia for many years before retiring in 1982. Ella currently lives in Pretoria North with her daughter, Welma JACOBSZ. Ella has three children – two daughters and a son who died four years ago. She has 8 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Shariefa KHAN (100) has finally returned to District Six, where she once lived with her husband and six children until the Group Areas Act evictions of the 1960s. On 17 June 2021, she received the news that she was getting a new 2-bedroom flat in Russell Street. She had applied for a house in 1996 and is the oldest living District Six land claimant. She is one of 108 people who were due to move into their new homes this July, but a construction snag has caused a delay.

On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a white area, and shortly thereafter, the family received a letter that they would have to move. Shariefa and her husband, Dawood, lost their house and their Bombay Cafe (aka Dout’s Cafe) at 238 Hanover Street in the evictions in 1968; the buildings were bulldozed. Dawood (aka Dout) was a chef. The family lived in Bailey Flats in Hanover Street, close to the Avalon Bioscope. Their cafe was renowned for its Indian and Cape Malay cuisine. The then newly formed Cape Flats forced the family to relocate to Rylands Estate on the outskirts of Cape Town.
She’s been living with her daughter, Sumaya MUKADAM (59), a caterer, in Connaught Estate, Elsiesrivier. Another daughter, Nadiema KHAN (68), will move in with her mother in the new house to care for her, as Shariefa had a stroke in December 2020 which left her wheelchair-bound.

Shariefa was born on April 25, 1921, in Vryburg, North- West, to Ahmad Khan DESHMUKH and Gadija MALLAK, who were Indian immigrants to South Africa. Her family moved to Cape Town in 1928, first living in Muizenberg and later in Kensington, where her father had the first halaal butchery in the area. She had eight siblings, but only one younger sister is alive, and she lives overseas. Shariefa married Dawood KHAN, also an Indian migrant living in District Six. Dawood died in 1978 at age 63 of heart failure. Shariefa started making samoosas for an income, working into her 90s. Of her six children, only three are alive – Sumaya, Nadiema, and Rashida DA COSTA (63), who lives in Crawford, Cape Town. A daughter, Shamsunisa, died at 21, and another daughter, Zainab, died at 12 in an accident in front of the family’s cafe. Her only son, Abdullah, died at age 72. She has 17 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren.

Hendrik and Anna BREDENKAMP, twins born on 31 August 1919 and originally from Bultfontein in the Free State, celebrated their 100th birthday in Garsfontein, Pretoria. The wheelchair-bound twins were the last surviving of 11 children. Anna never married and worked as a missionary in Malawi for 26 years; after that, she did counselling work with soldiers at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. Apart from Afrikaans, she was fluent in English, Zulu, and Chichewa. Anna died on 28 July 2020 of COVID-19 at Serene Park Retirement Home in Garsfontein. The twins lived at Serene Park Retirement Home, with Hendrik living in a private unit across the road with his son Gerhard. Hendrik was a magistrate in the Free State and later the chief magistrate in Pretoria. He was also fluent in English, Zulu and Dutch. He married Mona Marie Catharine BAASCH on 26 January 1946, and they had five children. Mona died on 18 October 2002 in Pretoria. Hendrik has 13 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

Tossie GOUWS celebrated her 100th birthday on 15 February 2021 at Ons Tuis Riviera Retirement Home in Pretoria. She’s lived at Ons Tuis since May 2014. Hendrika Margaretha MEINTJIES was born in Klerksdorp, where she grew up. She outlived two husbands, VAN ZYL and GOUWS. Her oldest daughter is 80 years old; another, Tersia KLEYNHANS, is 72. Tossie had six children and has fifteen grandchildren, twenty-three great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. She once sent some of her smocking work to Princess Anne. Tossie was also a baker and cook. At one stage, she and her husband owned a furniture store, and she was a regional manager for Russels.

Katriena STRYDOM of Rietvallei farm, near Robertson, was born on 28 June 1919. Katriena grew up in the area and worked on her family’s farm, both in the house and in the vineyards. Her first work was as a shepherd on Chris VILJOEN’s farm. Her mother died at age 106. Katriena had 9 children, of which 5 are deceased. She has 25 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, including Benjamin LOUW (grandson) and John-Will ARENDSE (great-grandson).

Janet ROBERTS died at age 101 at Huis Weltevrede in Welkom on June 1, 2014. She was often seen at rose shows and, at age 95, was still doing her own laundry and ironing. Her son, Ian, visited her every day, and until a few weeks before her death, they would go out for ice cream or waffles every day. In her younger years she was a league tennis player in Virginia. She stopped playing tennis at age 79.

Janet ARNOT was born on February 7th, 1913, in Roodepoort. She married William Robert Charles ROBERTS on June 1, 1940; they settled in Virginia in 1952. He worked at the Harmony Gold Mine. They had two sons, Ian and Clive. Janet had 2 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

Miss Mary SWART of Huis Klippedrift in Napier celebrated her 100th birthday on June 4, 2015. She moved to Huis Klippedrift in 2015. Maria Carolina SWART (aka Miss Mary) was born on June 4, 1915, at Heuningberg Farm in Bredasdorp. She died on 18 July 2017 at age 102 in Napier. Her father donated a small hall on his property to the African People’s Organisation so they could have a meeting place. Her sister, Susan, and husband Jack VAN RENSBURG fought to save the buildings that now house the Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp. In 1967, the authorities planned to demolish the old Independent Church building and hall. The community joined hands, and after a large donation from Gideon ALBERTYN, they raised funds for a museum fund. The municipality bought the buildings, previously owned by the Anglican Church, and declared them a national monument. The church building houses the Shipwreck Museum, and the old hall next door houses the village museum. Miss Mary was an active member of the Friends of the Shipwreck Museum.

Lydia RADEBE of Villiers in the Free State turned 100 in August 2019. She was born on 13 August 1919 on a farm near Villiers. In 1995 she received the first low-cost 3-room house built in Qalabotjha, Villiers, where she lived with two granddaughters. For her centenary, the community made repairs to the house.

Gerty LÖTTER of Robbertsz Street, Brandwacht, in Stellenbosch, celebrated her 100th birthday on 29 April 2019. She was born in Hopefield. She lived in Somerset West for many years before moving in with her daughter, Rita DE JAGER. Gerty was the youngest of 9 children and outlived them all. She also outlived her son. Gerty died in November 2019.

Willie SMIT turned 100 years old on 10 June 2021, a few days before moving to Ons Tuis Rivera in Pretoria. Willem Frederick Jacobus SMIT was born on 10 June 1921 near Boksburg, one of six children. Three of them are still alive. He started an apprenticeship at Simmer & Jack Mine and worked until his 40s on the gold mines in the Welkom area. He left to farm sheep and raise cattle on the Highveld, along with his wife Henriëtte and their four children, two of whom are still alive. They later retired to Hartenbos for a few years before moving to Pretoria. He outlived Henriette and two children. Willie has seven grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Chithekile MaGumede HLABISA, 101, survived COVID-19 and later received her vaccination. One of her daughters, Nelisiwe HLABISA, died from COVID-19. Chithekile lives in Ward 1 near Mzingazi in KwaZulu-Natal.

Eunice FICK from Bellville, Cape Town, celebrated her 102nd birthday by getting the COVID-19 vaccine on 26 May 2021. Eunice DE JAGER was born in Oudtshoorn and has lived in her flat behind Eureka Retirement Home in Bellville for 26 years. Welhma LISHMAN is one of two daughters.
Eunice has 7 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Gabriel Stephanus FICK (aka Kokkie), died on September 4, 2009, at age 94. They were married on 14 March 1945. She is one of Die Burger newspaper’s oldest subscribers, having had a subscription for more than 50 years. Her father was also a subscriber.

Coba SCHABORT of Bloemfontein celebrated her 104th birthday on April 29, 2021, spending the day with her two daughters, nine grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren.
Her daughter, Annalet NEL, lives with her in a townhouse in Langenhoven Park. Helene WILKE is her other daughter. Coba is the oldest member of the Voortrekkerbeweging, having been a member for 90 of their 101 years. She received an honorary award from them in their centenary year. She grew up in Reivilo, in the North West province. The town was named after her father, A.J. OLIVIER. Coba survived the Spanish Flu pandemic, having been infected in 1918.

Note: This article was written in August 2021