Mary Thandi Mashabane — known to everyone simply as Gogo Thandi — was born on 3 May 1948 in Hammanskraal and moved to Mamelodi East as a young bride, where she would live for the rest of her life in Block H.

For more than thirty years she ran a small spaza and vetkoek stand outside the Block H Lutheran Church, where three generations of children knew her as the gogo who never let anyone leave hungry. She sang alto in the church choir, chaired the burial society, and could quiet any street disagreement with a single look and a cup of tea.

She is survived by her four children, fourteen grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren, who remember her firm hands, her louder laugh, and a home whose door was never locked. She rests now, having loved well and long.