Bo-kaap's Abdeyah da Costa: a centenarian's journey of faith and activism

Bo-kaap philanthropist, businesswoman, activist, and poet Abdeyah da Costa is a living legend who celebrated her centenary birthday on Sunday, December 7.

Ms Da Costa said her secret to longevity was the prayers she had made to live a long life in the service of Allah (God). 

"Being close to Islam, not for the material joys and material beauties, but for spiritualism, insha'Allah. All praise is due to God who has granted me this," she said. 

Ms Da Costa lives in Dorp Street, doors away from the Auwal Masjid, the first mosque of South Africa, and in the home of the man known to be a foundational figure for Cape Muslim heritage - Tuan Guru, Imam Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam.

The Muslim scholar was a prince from Tidore, in Indonesia, and sent to political exile at the Cape by the Dutch in 1780.

Tuan Guru is renowned for writing the Quran from memory while imprisoned on Robben Island, which is on display at the Dorp Street mosque. 

Ms Da Costa is a fifth-generation descendant of Tuan Guru and has made her home Waqf, an Islamic tradition of making a permanent charitable endowment of property, including money, land, or a building, for religious or public benefit. 

Ms Da Costa recalled memorising verses of the Quran she learned in her teens, and recited the verse asked of her by her teachers, knowing the constitution of Muslims by heart. 

She repeated texts and poetry documented in her book of poetry titled Glimpses into the Inner Journey of Abdeya da Costa published in 2015.

Her poems document the grief she felt following the death of her husband, Sulaiman da Cost, in 2000.

In her personal note in the book, she wrote: "For the last 23 years of our married life, my husband suffered the effects of a stroke. Fortunately, it had left no brain damage; we could still enjoy enriching conversations."

On Friday, December 5, she had a grand birthday celebration at Islamia College Hall in Lansdowne. Guests came from abroad and locally, including representatives from Eros School for children with Cerebral Palsy in Bridgetown.

Ms Da Costa had rallied funds for the organisation and said that she had named the school, referring to the Greek god of love, desire, and passion.

Ms Da Costa is still able to read without spectacles and, until recently, participated in the "crane Bo-kaap protest", referring to the confrontations in 2018, where residents protested large construction cranes entering the historic neighbourhood to build new developments. 

She also bought a building for her husband to use as a madrassa. This building has since been sold, but was meant to be used by the community.

Ms Da Costa attended St Paul's Primary School in Bo-kaap and completed Standard Six at Trafalgar High School in District Six.

She worked for a Jewish family and was upskilled to become a manager and then a buyer.

She then opened a fashion boutique franchise called Parlour Salon, which had branches in Kenilworth Centre, N1 City, Maynard Mall and Sea Point. 

Ms Da Costa does not have children, but her oldest nephew, Ashiek Manie, takes care of her and is also her executor. 

Mr Manie said his aunt was well-read, travelled the world, could speak German and that her home had been his library. 

Her neighbours popped in at her home along with community leader Masturah Adams to wish her on Sunday,

"We ask Allah to grant Aunty Abdeya another 100 years with us, in sound mind, strength, and health. May Allah grant Aunty Abdeya contentment more than anything else," she said. 

Ms Adams, also a former neighbour, recalled Ms Da Costa being a "very private person" but also prim and proper, and smartly dressed.