World’s Oldest Person Dies At 128

A woman believed to have been the oldest living person has passed away in South Africa aged 128.

Mother-of-seven Johanna Mazibuko died at her home in Jouberton, in the country’s North West Province, on March 3. She would have turned 129 in May, local media reports.

Thandiwe Wesinyana, her caregiver and daughter-in-law, told News24 that a stroke may have been the cause of her death.

The entire community has ‘lost a mother,’ she told the outlet.

‘We loved to pray together and spent most of our days drinking tea and talking,’ she said.

‘I don’t know who I’m going to have fun with anymore.

‘A wound has opened, my heart is sore, and I am shattered. The community is saddened. We’ve all lost a mother.’

According to those close to her, Johanna grew up on a maize farm in South Africa, but never went to school and could not read or write.

Although she was never officially verified as the world’s oldest woman by Guinness World Records, documentation exists which states she was born in 1894.

In the years since, she has lived three centuries and witnessed British colonialism, apartheid and two world wars.

She celebrated her 128th birthday on May 11, 2022, and said the secret to her advanced age was a diet of wild spinach and fresh milk.

Speaking to News24 on her most recent birthday, she said: ‘I am amazed at why I am still here after so many years. Why am I still here? People around me have been dying.

‘When will I die? What’s the point of being alive? The world has tired me because I am just sitting here doing nothing,’ she added.

The oldest of 12 children, three of which are still alive, Johanna has 7 children, two of whom have outlived her, and has over 50 grandchildren.