Gogo, 101, Still Makes Grass Brooms and Weaves Rugs Despite Her Age, Says it Keeps Her Young

• At 101 years old, gogo Masebo Matlakala says working hard and eating a balanced diet is what has helped her live a long life
• Every morning, the inspirational mom, grandmother and great-grandmother wakes up to do house chores, followed by handmaking brooms and rugs
• She told Briefly News in an exclusive interview that she learnt her skills from her mother and is now passing it on to her kids

By Thomo Nkgadima - Freelance writer

Masebo Matlakala is a 101-year-old gogo from the deep rural village of Kgopaneng, outside the mining development town of Burgersfort in Limpopo who still makes grass brooms despite her age.

The mother of 9 children, 39 grandchildren and 98 great-grandchildren, told Briefly News in an interview that she wakes up early every morning to do house chores. When she's done with that, the gogo then spends her days hand-making rugs, using bamboo sticks from the river bank and brooms, using grass collected from the field.

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"I have learned the skill from my mother some years ago while I was young. I started to craft and knit to make money for a living".

"I collect my rugs from the river and I collect grass from the field to make brooms".

The knitting and handcraft skills now run in the family.

"I have learned this skill from my mother at an early age while I was young when she realised the interest that I developed in her work.

"Some years ago, when I was tired of being harrased by police searching my house and arresting me for brewing and selling homemade dry gin, I decided to do something to change my life". Matlakala said.

The centenarian uses her self-made table, needle, stones and wool to make rugs with bamboo sticks.

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Celebrating 100th birthday

Gogo Matlakala celebrated her 100th birthday with family in September last year:

"I have lived during the dark days of oppression and survived until today to see democracy. My advise for living many years is eating a healthy, balanced diet and working hard."

"My work keeps me young. I work daily to keep myself healthy and this helps me to fight old-age chronic illness."

Matlakala's favourite food is milk and Mabele pap, as well as indigenous morogo. She enjoys eating grapes and maize too.

"I still toil the land and plough maize to sell at the social grand pay point to make money. I know how it feels to be without a source if income."

Man stans for marriage after finding folks reading Bible: 'Ngathi umnandi umshado'

In other inspirational news, Briefly News reported that an elderly married couple is the envy of their son, who took to social media to share that he had arrived at their home to find them reading the Bible together.

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The post trended on Twitter, where users poured over the picture @tallsiya shared of his parents fully invested in the word.

The caption read:

"So, I get to my parent’s place to find them sitting together reading the Bible. Yazi ngathi umnandi umshado."

@Spear_ZA commented:

"This is really the most confusing book, never met anyone who read, understood and finished it."

@mtambudze said:

"From my point of view, these cute loves are not reading the Bible together. They had an argument and one of them quoted the Bible and the other one questioned the verse and now they all looking for the verse."

Source: Briefly News