Age is just a number, says 96-year-old Muvhango actress from Thenzeni village

By Victor Mukwevho

The saying that you are as old (or young) as you feel contains a lot of truth. A 96-year-old gogo from Thenzheni village made her acting debut on television late last year when she landed herself a role in one of the most loved soapies in the country, Muvhango

For Ms Tshinakaho Mananga, age does not limit her ambitions in life. “To me, age is just a number. I feel very strong mentally and physically. I can run from here to Makonde (about seven kilometres) and back,” she said.

But how, everybody is asking, did she manage to end up acting on national television at her age?

“I went for auditions like any other actress in the country,” was her reply.

She explained that her neighbour, Ms Nkhangweni Munyamela, who is also an actress, told her about the auditions, which were held at the Thohoyandou Town Hall. “She took me there and I passed with flying colours!” she said with a broad smile on her face.

Mananga believes she is living proof that, if God chooses you to succeed at something, no-one can stop you – not even if you are not educated. “I cannot read or write, but today, I am an actress. During shooting, my fellow cast members are given scripts and spend hours rehearsing, but with me it is different. They just tell me what to do, and I do it without stammering. It makes me proud to know that there are very educated people in this country, and here I am - at my age - more famous than them because I am always on their television screens.”

When Mananga is home, she spends most of her time preventing the monkeys and baboons from stealing the maize in her orchard. “I leave the house at 05:00 every morning until after 18:00 to go work the field and watch the orchard. Some of the big baboons are very stubborn and try to intimidate me, but I use my catapult to shoot at them. I still have very good aim,” she brags.

When she travels around with the Muvhango cast during shooting, she hires people to stand in for her at her orchard and keep the monkeys and baboons away. “Otherwise, they will eat everything in my orchard,” she said.

Despite her advanced age, she feels she still has a lot to offer to the entertainment industry. “As long as they give me roles designed for people of my age, I will continue to entertain TV viewers for a very long time to come,” she said. Sharing her secret on being blessed with a long life and good health, she said that people, especially the younger ones, should avoid frozen foods and alcohol. “Eat a lot of fruits, traditional food like mushidzhi, thinzie and nyendanyendani, avoid alcohol and cigarettes at all cost, and you will live long. You also have to be faithful in your relationship and stick to one partner,” she said.

Madadzhe is fine in prison and will soon ask for bail

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“The senior prosecutor at the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court knew about all that. I went to him prior to the date to arrange it and I even asked him to stand the matter down, so that it would be done between 10:00 and 10:30. I was surprised and very disappointed to learn that the matter was called earlier, while I was still engaged at the Thohoyandou High Court,” he said.

Hlungwani said that he then asked the prosecutor to bring the case before court on 14 March, so that a formal bail application could be made. “I am surprised to hear some laymen saying that the matter should have been heard on that date. Their Watching Brief Counsel should have best advised them what the position was at that moment. But he was making a lot of noise, impressing those noisemakers, instead of telling them the truth,” he said. Hlungwani further indicated that, except for the bail application, the matter was still very far from over. He said that the noisemakers would not serve as witnesses in court, and that he was shocked by their allegations that he had run away from the case.

“I want to put it on record that as long as Nemukongwe Attorneys Inc briefs me, I will do my job freely and fearlessly. It is necessary that Madadzhe have legal representation, as per the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which states that any arrested person must have a legal representative who knows the law, so that such a person should not be wrongly accused of a crime he or she did not commit. The law is very clear that anyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. Madadzhe must be granted that too,” Hlungwani said. Regarding the rumours that Ma- dadzhe’s well-being was at stake, Hlungwani was quick to point out that his client was fine, except that he had to be placed in a single cell as a result of threats by one of the prisoners who described himself as a “general” of Suka Emabozeni, who is an inmate at the Thohoyandou Prison. The prisoner apparently had a cellphone in his possession and used it to post messages on social media that indicated that Madadzhe’s days were numbered. The phone was taken away from the prisoner when people started to voice their concern for the comedian.

“One has to question the safety of the inmates in that prison, where prisoners apparently do things at will. I wonder if there are even managers at that prison, and if so, how the prisoners get access to phones and other dangerous weapons with which they inflict harm on other inmates, as well as the workers in there. That they took the cellphone away simply means that things are being smuggled into the prison unnoticed,” said Hlungwani.

As to whether the case would be moved elsewhere for security reasons, Hlungwani said that no plans to that effect had been made. “The matter will the heard in the jurisdiction of Thohoyandou. We have a very competent Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court, Thohoyandou Regional Court at Sibasa and the Thohoyandou High Court. The police and the law are there to protect our client. If the police and the law in those courts fail to protect him, then Nemukongwe Attorneys Inc, under Lufuno Nemukongwe, will decide which legal path to take in order to have his dignity restored by the court, as there are legal means to do that. I also have to put on record that Madadzhe’s legal fees are being paid by his family and no other party,” Hlungwani concluded.

The KFC U/13 Development Soccer League continued the past weekend. The league is organised by Mamu Sports Development and sponsored by KFC. The match between Tshiozwi Dynamos FC and Hollywoodbets Mabaleng Development, played on Sunday, ended in a 1-1 draw. The goals were scored by Maemu Rofhiwa (left) of Mabaleng and Matshikiri Ronewa of Tshiozwi. In Saturday’s matches, Gogobole Bucs FC beat Maita