A Tafelsig nonagenarian says she and her neighbours create a happy living environment despite the social ills plaguing the area.
Rachel Simmery, who celebrated her 95th birthday on Sunday April 14, says: “Dit is nie eintlik lekker om hier te bly nie. Ons maak dit lekker. Ons is die kinders van die Here.”
Ms Simmery, who has been living in the area for 28 years, says it is rife with substance abuse and gangsterism.
Ms Simmery’s neighbours June Atkins, Beryl Jenniker, her daughter Rachel Barnabas and granddaughter Samantha Fortune attest to her dislike of discussing other people.
Ms Atkins says: “I love her like a mother because I no longer have a mother.”
“Ek kan my hart kom uit praat. She always gives advice and loves tea,” she adds.
Ms Simmery encourages the youth to honour their parents and to live good lives, without drugs, gangsterism and alcohol.
“This world means nothing. You only walk with God and you talk to Him,” she says.
Ms Simmery has two children, 15 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild and says she has been blessed with a good life because she always cared for her parents.
