Cape Town – When you ask May Gomez, or Aunty May as she is affectionately known, what her secret to reaching 100 is, she will quickly remind you that she is only 99 years old, and still has three weeks to go before reaching her century.
“I’m the oldest woman living in Kalk Bay? Who told you that?” she jokes and giggles.
Gomez has lived through two world wars; the birth and demise of apartheid in South Africa; and has outlived her husband Lawrence Gomez, and some of her siblings over the past 99 years.
On March 1 she will celebrate her 100th birthday.
She is not on any medication, and does not suffer from any illness.
During a visit to Gomez on Monday, it was clear that she is known and loved by many in the area, and passers-by could easily direct the Cape Times team to the “Fishermen Flat” she has called home for the past 60 years.
Born in Hout Bay, Gomez met, fell in love and married her husband, who was of German descent.
The two lived in Constantia and Wynberg for some years, even though she was classified as “coloured” by the apartheid regime.
Gomez said her neighbours were fine with the fact that she lived there.
Years later the couple moved to Kalk Bay, where she has remained, and her husband spent many days at sea as a fisherman.
While most of the area was declared for whites under apartheid’s Group Areas Act, the part of Kalk Bay Gomez lives in was declared coloured because coloured people’s labour for the fishing industry was needed at the harbour.
“I can’t remember much of the past, and I don’t have a real secret to living this long," she said. "If God says it’s not my time, it’s not my time,” Gomez added.
Her niece Margaret Baker, 57, spends time with her every afternoon, and said her aunt was still very independent.
“She has raised so many children, and is loved by all. She loves to dance, and she can eat chocolates, sjoe, she can eat chocolates,” Baker said.