Woman retires from city after 17 years of service

After 17 years as a health promoter at the City of Johannesburg’s health department, Meisie Seripa had decided to take off the gloves and spend time with her family.

Seripa retired from the health department in March 2013 at the age of 64. She had always loved helping people and after a neighbour gave birth to a stillborn baby in her presence, she knew that there was more she could do for the community. “My neighbour called me when she was about to give birth and I had no idea what to do,” she said. Seripa said it was after that incident that she decided to enrol in a first-aid programme.

After her training Seripa worked as a health promoter where she gave support to people, advised them and also did house calls to make sure that her patients took their medication. Seripa had always been a helper in the community even before she started working for the city. “People would always come to me whenever they needed help, whether it was advice, food or just support,” she said.

Now Seripa takes life easy, travels and spends time with her family. “I was always busy when I worked and I would be tired when I spend Sundays with my family,” Seripa said. She went on to say that she enjoys the time she gets now to be with her family, especially her grandchildren. Seripa has five children, 12 grand-children and one great-grandchild. She said, “The house gets very loud when they are around but I enjoy it.”

Seripa spends some of her time taking computer lessons from her daughter, Zandi Nkosi. She wants to be computer literate so that she can complete a course offered by the Stock Market College, showing that one is never too old to learn. “I am learning about trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange because investing is very important,” she said.

Seripa still helps in the community where she can. She has left a gap at the clinics she worked at, where she is solely missed. “They still call me to come and help them but I am old now,” she said with a chuckle.