Mourners from near and far braved the unpleasant weather on Saturday to be part of the final send-off of the late Vho-Tshamaano Selinah Muifha (71). Her funeral service was held at Khubvi village, north of Thohoyandou, where she was fondly remembered, especially for her great wisdom.
The deceased, who touched many lives during her lifetime, took her last breath at the Donald Fraser Hospital on Thursday, 24 November, after she became ill. Muifha, who was deaf and mute, communicated through sign language all her life. Her generation regarded her as a very intelligent woman. She never attended a special school but fell in with the other kids in a normal school, even though she could not hear or speak, and still managed to pass her Standard 5 with flying colours. How she did this remains a mystery to many to this day. According to those who knew her from those early days, she had an exceptional aptitude for Maths and English; subjects she received very high marks in, they said.
Muifha raised her five children on her own. To make sure that they were sufficiently provided for, she brew traditional beer (Mafhahe) – the best in the region, some would say. She also worked in the fields and made beautiful grass mats (thovho). Muifha was renowned for her cleanliness. Her home was always neatly decorated with cow dung and colourful soil. When she died, though, she had not been brewing her popular traditional beer for some time, being a staunch member and elder of the local Baptist Church.
When paying tribute to her mother, Muifha's oldest daughter, Tendani Ragimana, greeted the mourners in the sign language her mother used to greet people. "I am waving to you to show how my mother used to communicate with people. I am inclined to do this today as a final salute to her because she used sign language to interact with us. Although she couldn't talk or hear, our mother was a great and very wise parent who went the extra mile to make sure that we were provided for. It is because of the sacrifices she made for us that we grew up to be independent today."