The Village of Magona mourns popular granny Kokwani Whi

Granny Nyanisi Gavaza Nyoni will be sorely missed.

Community members at Magona are celebrating the life of popular granny Nyanisi Gavaza Nyoni, known as Kokwani Whi, who died on January 25 aged 98, four days before her 99th birth day. The granny was buried at Magona cemetery in Magona Village bordering the Kruger National Park at the Collins Chabane Local Municipality in Limpopo.

It was a colourful funeral marked by pomp and ceremony befitting a granny who was the toast of the community. “Our mother lived life to the full so we have no reason to mourn but to celebrate her life,” said her second eldest daughter Emma. She said her late mother was a remarkable woman but was the pillar of her husband Wilson Nyoni who was a local tycoon who ran a shop. He is still alive at the advanced age of 106.

Many people have spoken highly of the granny and explained how she changed their lives. “I would not have become a teacher had she and her husband not adopted me and financed my studies,” said retired principal Dyson Hlungwani. He said her family came out of the blue and asked to adopt him and finance his studies and he became a teacher and later a high school principal.

Local man Norman Mathebula hailed her as a hero. “I lost my mother at a young age and as her neighbour I had long forgotten that I had no mother judging by how she treated me,” he said.

Many people including those from her church the Zion Christian Church spoke highly of the late granny. Cathrine Mathebula who spoke on behalf of her church remembered her for her sense of humour and her love for singing. She is survived by five daughters namely Karolina, Emma, Florah, Ivy and Eunice and the only son Eddie. She is also survived by her husband, 19 grand children, 31 great grand children and one great great grand child.