Trevor Noah mourns the loss of his 95-year-old grandmother, Goga, who was buried May 12th. “This morning our family buried the senior member of our clan, Francis Noah, or, as most of us called her, Goga,” Noah shared on Instagram on Thursday. The post featured a video in which a smiling Noah sits next to his grandmother when she playfully asks him, “How can I smile in a photo when I don’t have teeth?”
Recalling some of the best moments with the late grandmother, the host of “The Daily Show” wrote from the bottom of his heart a tribute to Gog’s memory. “My grandmother was born in 1927, and even though she was 95, she has the best memory of us all,” he said. “Every moment spent with her felt like a magical journey through time, where she talked about all the greatest joys, losses, achievements and milestones of the family. Her home in Sauet was not just a home, it was a refuge, a place where others women came when they had nowhere to go, a place where community members gathered to pray together every week, a place where everyone is guaranteed to feel the love that comes from her powerful breasts. ”
I cried all week celebrating the greatest “movie” I have ever watched. A story that started with my first breath and ended with my last. ”
Fans of “The Daily Show” can get to know Gog from the 2018 episode when Noah visited his hometown of Soweta, Johannesburg, for the “MTV Cribs” story called “Cribs: Oppression Edition”. Together with Noah’s mother, Patricia Noah, Gogo helped raise him when he grew up in Sauet. During the segment Noah and his grandmother had an open discussion about Apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation prevalent in South Africa between the 1940s and 1990s. Gogo also said she has a baby photo of Noah that she talked to every day. “I always look at this picture … and every morning when I look at it, I ask God, ‘Morning, Trevor!’ And he never answers! ” She joked.
Thanking fans for their messages of support on social media, Noah said, “I know many of you have fallen in love with Gog from afar, and thank you for the compassion and blessing you have sent in her memory. I cried all week celebrating the best “movie” I’ve ever watched. A story that began with my first breath and ended with my last. The woman who showed me the truest definition of unconditional love. She peacefully passed away in a dream and even blessed us with the last Mother’s Day, which she enjoyed to the fullest. ”
Noah finished the message, wishing his grandmother goodbye to Zulu: “Hamba Kale Goga.”
