Obed Moja turns 100 on Thursday and, for the first time in his life, he will have a house he can call his own.
Moja's new house is still under construction. It lies on a piece of property in Broederstroom near the Sterkfontein World Heritage Site outside Krugersdorp, just two metres away from his old home - a ramshackle building made from soil and wooden beams.
"I am very happy about this. I now know this is my house and no one can chase me away. When my grandchildren come to visit, they know they are coming home," he said.
Sitting under the shade of a huge tree, he added: "I am old now. I wish this good thing had happened when I was younger."
Moja, who was born on the property, worked as a labourer for the surrounding farmers for many years but, like many other farmworkers, never had the privilege of owning his own piece of land.
He is from the Bapo tribe, a Batswana community that established itself in and around the valley - now known as Broederstroom - in the early 1800s.
In the mid-1800s, Moja's people were displaced from their land by white settlers.
In 1990, a Johannesburg business consultant, Roger Roman, bought an old family farm and discovered about 20 Bapo families living on it.
Instead of evicting them, Roman donated a significant portion of the land to the community. So dedicated was he to the cause that he went on a hunger strike for several weeks when the local Hartbeespoort council made it difficult for him to donate the land and give the community the title deeds.
Roman said: "He (Moja) is a wonderful person, I am so grateful that he is still alive. Two years ago I came here to look for him, but could not find him. Then I heard this knocking sound and went to investigate. There he was at 98, building his own toilet.
"I asked him why he was building another toilet when he already had one. He said he always wanted a brick toilet."
Moja's new home is one of the 20 that will be built for the tiny community thanks to Roman's efforts. A community centre will also be built, as well as a furniture factory, which will bring in an income for the community.
Wood from invasive alien plants will be used to manufacture the furniture.