A South African woman celebrated her 118th birthday Friday as one of the oldest people in the world with a small party at her care home. Margaret Maritz was born on September 27, 1906, according to a copy of her identity card shown to journalists by a charity that helped to organize the party in Touwsriver, 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Cape Town. The document has not been independently verified but if confirmed would make Maritz older than Japanese national Tomiko Itooka who was born on May 23, 1908 and is listed by the US-based Gerontology Research Group as currently the world’s oldest living person.

Flanked by two of her 14 children, Maritz blew out a candle on a large pink birthday cake at the party in the small town of Touwsriver. “She talks about her life as a young woman, (saying) you must respect your mother and your father. She didn’t drink, she didn’t smoke,” a senior nurse at the home, Gregory Elroy Adams, told AFP.

The birthday cake for Margaret Maritz (not seen) who celebrates her 118th birthday is displayed on a table in an old-age home in Touwsrivier.

Margaret Maritz looks on while celebrating her 118th birthday in an old-age home in Touwsrivier .

“We must be grateful,” said one of her daughters, Liza Daniels, 67. “I don’t know if I will reach that age one day. But for me it’s a very, very big privilege to have a mother that reaches this age.”

According to the Guinness World Records website, the oldest verified person is French national Jeanne Calment, who died in August 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. “Several people have been claimed to be older than Jeanne, but there has never been enough evidence to authenticate them,” it says. The oldest known South African died in March 2023 just two months before turning 129.

Johanna Mazibuko was born on May 11, 1894 according to her identity papers, although these were not confirmed as authentic by authorities.—AFP