A lady of strength and great stature celebrated her 99th birthday on Sunday November 11.
Eva Goliath, from Eastridge, does not let her wheelchair stop her from enjoying her life and spending all her time with her loving family.
Ms Goliath, who was born in Elsies River, has been living with her son and daughter-in-law, Caroline and Isaac Goliath for the past 10 years.
Caroline, 62, left her job to take care of her Ms Goliath.
Her family came from all over Cape Town to celebrate her birthday with her on Saturday November 10.
Ms Goliath was one of 10 children. She has four children, seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and three great great-grandchildren.
Her granddaughter, Valencia Hoedemaker, 33, said Ms Goliath was a guiding light.
“We are still taught to say please and thank you and these little things we treasure as we make it our mission to instill this into our children’s lives. She serves God with all her heart but cannot attend church as often as she likes.”
Ms Goliath said: “I don’t know why I am living so long. I took care of the seniors at my church’s senior club. I always told them to put on their jackets to keep warm. I worked for my parents. There wasn’t always enough money for shoes for myself, I would walk to church with those broken shoes but I did not care because the Lord kept me for all these years.”
If she could still walk, she would work for the Lord. She cared about other people more than herself, said Ms Hoedemaker.
She said Ms Goliath loved spending time with all her children and laughed her socks off when they jumped on her.
“She would listen to the person speaking, ask who that is and calls them to her so that she can talk to them,” said Ms Hoedemaker.