The life and times of Moses Monye

 

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOSES MONYE

“Borotho ba tsena, bana ga ba bolawe ke tlala”- The job puts bread on the table thus my family doesn’t suffer from hunger. These are the words of a vibrant brick layer Moses Monye. This diligent visionary man has encountered many challenges, both professionally and personally but has still maintained his passion for the construction industry.

Born in Venda, Moses Monye attended Chibidi Primary School and matriculated at Leshawana Secondary School. He envisioned himself as a civil engineer to construct roads because that was his passion. His dream could not be a reality because his matric results did not comply with the minimum requirements to be obtained in order to enroll at most tertiary institutions. Even though his initial plan did not pan as he planned it, he always knew that his heart is set out on being in the construction industry thus the decision to be a bricklayer. Mr Monye had previously worked on a project in Lephalale whereby shopping complexes were being built, before relocating to Pretoria and finding employment at the construction site in Mamelodi. The reason for relocating is because after the completion of the project in Lephalale, employment opportunities became scarce. While the multi-tasking worker was laying bricks on top of the ‘daga’, he shared his struggle of not having enough money to buy a house and yet he builds homes on a regular basis.

This extraordinarily vibrant individual’s goal is to start a construction company and increase employment opportunities in his community with regards to anything regarding construction of buildings, he preferably would like to build structures that will increase the general welfare of his community members, for example, a library, clinic, school, orphanage homes etc. He wishes that the company could expand and become a success by the age of forty. This goal is hampered by the lack of funds and the small scale salary in which he earns on a monthly basis, which barely covers all his expenses. He clearly outlined his steps to reaching his goals. Firstly, he intends to upgrade his matric results to meet the minimum admission requirements. Secondly, he is searching for funding to further his studies in order to gain theoretical knowledge about the industry. After obtaining his qualification, he intends to work on medium scale construction projects and acquire more income, helping him to obtain start-up capital for his business. Last but not least, obtain a BSc Honors in Civil Engineering in order to be fully equipped, both theoretically and practically, to tackle construction projects on a larger scale.

Moses’ advice to people who aspire to grow in the construction industry is to not chase money and material things but rather be patient, love what you do and be professional at all times so that everything else can fall into its rightful place. He also encourages the youth to stay in school for them to gain knowledge and experience with regards to good financial management, transparency and accountability, which in his opinion is essential for productivity to take place.

It is people like Moses who make our society have a glimpse of a brighter future. His initial dream of being a civil engineer immediately after matriculating did not become a reality, however, he still works diligently and whole-heartedly. His determination to succeed in the construction industry is what keeps him aiming high and focused on his vision and that is what everyone should possess. Moses Monye is a role model to Kamaravele and to anyone aspiring to be in this industry but faces tremendous challenges. He is living proof of passion for construction.

The Story of Anzani The Bricklayer

*Anzani, took time from his much deserved lunch break to tell us his fascinating story about how he went from stacking cakes to laying bricks on construction sites. When he’s not enjoying his lunch break, Anzani works as a very skilled bricklayer who ensures that good quality is maintained in the bricklaying process.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Anzani is the first of five children. His family was not very privileged, with his mom being uneducated and his dad struggling through the cotton farms of Chibero. He attended primary and secondary school where he was first introduced to building. Forced by circumstances, Anzani left school and looked for a job. He worked at a bakery where he mentions that he was very unhappy. Months passed and he decided to quit and look for a job elsewhere. His pursuits landed him in South Africa, but for a while the grass seemed to not be greener on the other side. “I really struggled to find a job here”, he mentions, “It took me months of walking around factories and asking for available vacancies. After months of searching, I was lucky enough to be called by a friend who told me about a construction company that needed people to work as labour.”

Although the job he had, put food on the table, he was not ready to settle. He started working on small construction projects where slowly but surely gained more skills and experience in the bricklaying trade. His superiors saw his great work ethic and eagerness to learn so consequently he was invited to work on bigger projects more often and finally got a permanent job. Four years later, Anzani works as a very skilled bricklayer on important construction projects and continues to broaden his knowledge theoretically to make up for his lack of higher training. 

His advice for anyone interested in this trade is “BE PRACTICAL” for example; know how to use your tape measure, use appropriate and neat stacking methods and most importantly be able to interpret and understand drawings. He mentions that good attributes to have as a bricklayer, are humility and good communication skills, as you meet people from different walks of life daily.

Anzani’s story proves that humble beginnings don’t determine where you end up in life; you do. He thrived from a life of poverty and overcame extreme hardships to become one of the most important people in the building process. This shows that hard work and perseverance can pay off in the long run. These are indeed qualities we will need to adapt to survive in this cut-throat industry.

narrative essay from the Ofentses

Sitting in an upright position, he happily gives us an insight into his life and his journey to become a junior formant. His name is Blessing Masangu and he was born and raised in Mpumalanga. This essay shows the story of how blessing was inspired by his father to go into the construction business. The essay also shows us his high points in his career and the challenges he faces in the work place. The essay concludes with his advice for the future people who intend to pursue a career in construction.

Blessing was a young boy, attending Murwe primary who had a dream of becoming a doctor but due financial setbacks he could not achieve his dream. Blessing father worked on a construction site and as he was the eldest son, it was his duty to help his father build the family home. It was at this point that blessing started to enjoy the building side of the construction. In the year 2002 he began working as a taxi driver in Mpumalanga and he was very unhappy with the type of work and he felt that there was no future opportunities for him. It was at this point that a recently deceased friend by the name of Sello Makena had approached Blessing with a promising job opportunity in a construction company. He arrived at the construction site with his identification book and his safety boots the next day and was offered a full time job. He began to work hard and his hard work was recognized and he began to be trained for a higher role by John van Hiekerk.

Blessing faces many challenges in the work place and in his daily life. One of the challenges he faces is that he has to works from 7am to 5 pm and then he has to travel home which is a further two and a half hours away by bus and as a result he often gets home at 8:30 pm and has to wake up at 4:00 am. The other big challenge he faces on a daily is a lack of respect from the new recruits that may know him. It is Blessings jobs to train the new recruits and he feels that when the new recruit is a family member or happens to be a friend they sometimes tend to take advantage of him and he often has to fix the mess that they made.

Blessing has many challenges that he faces on a daily but he still enjoys his job and has had a lot of success in his career. One of the things he enjoys is learning about the different cultures and meeting new people. The other thing he enjoys is giving people advice and helping the new recruits learn their way.

To conclude I have learnt a lot from this humble and hardworking man.  Blessing had advised us that the only way to be successful is to work hard and to find something that we enjoy. He also advised us that we need to work hard to support our family as he does.                                             

I had  the opportunity to interview a man named Marius Smit. He is a certified plumber on the West Rand who has always been very passionate about his work he is very dedicated towards his work. Marius was born in Roodepoort and he attended Roodepoort Hoerskool on the West Rand. Plumbing has always been his passion and he has always had the urge to succeed in his field.

Marius has had his fare share of achievements in his career thus far. After the completion of his national service during 1980, he started his apprenticeship with a huge plumbing company. This company was well known as "Hoenderdos" in those days.

Apprenticeship could take anything between two to four years depending on progress and the availability of the opportunity to write a trade test. Marius's training consisted of two, three month "school block" periods and two, three month practical training periods. This happened at the old Johannesburg Technical College in Smit street. Training also partly occurred at the BIFSA (Building Industrial Federation South Africa) training facilities in Springs on the East Rand.

Various tools and equipment are used on a daily basis. Tools such as the Rigid Dicing Tool, Chisels, hammers, electrical grinders, compactors and generators.

There were various people who played a role in the formation of this mans career for example: Marius's late dad who motivated him and a plumbing project manager, Mr Bob van Reenen that identified, managed and motivated him on a daily basis.

The thing Marius enjoys most about his job is being outdoors, being creative and working with people. His highest achievement is the creation of his own successful business entity.

He has seen many change in his trade and working conditions over the years for example: tools and materials that have become more improved and more user friendly. On the negative side his experience is that the artisans are not as proud of their workmanship as they used to be. Marius insists to see the lengthy thorough artisan course being implemented. He believes that this will add to the pride in workmanship.

The advice that Marius would like to give to someone who is interested in becoming a plumber is to try and obtain the best training , study the building trade and to better your business and inter-personal skills.

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to interview this great man. He has really taught me a lot through telling me his life story and by motivating me to become what I want to be. He is a real artisan and has shown that anything can be achieved through a little motivation and hard work. He has seen an opportunity and has taken his chance fully handed. He has been in the industry for a long time and I'm sure he isn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

Group:

Miguel
Cole
Tristan
Niel

The Multi-talented Daniel Setshedi

The Multi-talented Daniel Setshedi

 

The only information we knew as we walked to the construction site was that he was a tradesmen more specifically a brick layer, other than that we knew nothing and it would be nice to finally put a name to a face.

We watch him as he slowly walked towards us; there he stood before us in all his dusty glory Mr. Mokete Daniel Setshedi. He came across as a kind; soft spoken man originally from Warmbaths (Bela-Bela). We were intrigued to find out how a man from Limpopo found his way to Pretoria, with over 25 years of bricklaying experience it was an honour to be standing next to such a man. Although he is usually underrated, he is probably the reason behind the quality of many home walls and maybe my own.

We start the interview with the loud, cluttered sound of machines in the back ground we introduce ourselves and finally he introduces himself but with all the busy machinery behind us we hardly hear a thing, Valerian asks him to speak a little louder and so he does and introduces himself as Mr. Daniel Mokete Setshedi.

He smiles as he reminisces about his good old days before he got to Pretoria” I don’t remember his full name but I know he was Mr. van Staaden”, We later realize that Mr. van Staaden is the man that taught him what he needed to know about building, bricklaying and plastering. He chuckles as he begins to tell us the story of how he became a brick layer.

 Mr. Setshedi is a man of many talents and loves what he does. He has always been a hard working; selfless man who always found a way to provide for his family, he started working at a young age first as a gardener in Warmbaths. Times where difficult for him and his family so he made the selfless decision to leave school at the tender age of 13 to try and find a job that would enable him to help his parents make ends meet.

Mr. van Staaden, the man that took him at the tender age of 13 taught him all he needs to know about brick laying and later plastering after gaining knowledge from Mr. van Staaden he moved to Hamanskraal seeking bigger and better opportunities and worked his way to where his is now.

His day begins with him checking if the site is suitable for people to work on and to report any faults he can find; with many years of experience he still takes his job very seriously. His brick laying skills are incredible and this only comes with experience.

It felt like 5 minutes but it had been 15 minutes already as his supervisor asks for him, we think because he is one of the fastest workers on site. More experienced men on site and his supervisor needs him back as soon as possible. We wrap things up by asking a few more questions. The one question we asked that still resonates in our minds, not because of the question but because of the answer he gave, we asked him if he would ever go back to school to get a degree and better his qualifications and his answer was quick and simple he said ‘I wouldn’t go back to school because my time  for school has passed and it is my responsibility to make sure the younger kids of my family go to school and get jobs so they don’t have to work so hard for so little pay”

A couple of more questions and we ended the interview with one of the most resilient men we’ve ever met.

We as a group have learnt so much from this man and feel blessed to have met him. We have the utmost respect for this tender soul who we now look at as a role model, he has tough us to work hard and to always put our best foot forward.

 

I met a man named "Victor", he is an electrician that works for a Gauteng based company who enjoys his trade and has an important job to ensure that all the needed equipment is ready to be used everyday for the days work. Victor is from Zimbabwe and came to South Africa in 2006 and started at the company in 2009.

Victor started working as an electrician when he came to South Africa to make ends meet, Victor received no formal training but learned how to be an electrician along the way working alongside qualified electricians and now he is as good at his job as any qualified electrician. The man Victor works for now has been the main reason that he is able to feed his wife and baby, Victor really looks up to this man who gave him a chance and taught him everything he knows and he is the reason Victor settled in South Africa and made his hard life feel less difficult.

Victor really enjoys his job and is passionate about it but his favourite part of the job besides seeing and working in big houses is doing the wiring and laying out of lights in a ceiling because he gets to be creative and when its done it satisfies him that its because of him theres light for people. Victor lives a very difficult life and faces challenges everyday but some of the most difficult is the police in town who often target foreigners like Victor who works hard and has very little, the police harass him on a daily basis and often force hi to bribe them so that they can leave him alone, Victor is also often affected by crime in the city and is often robbed and beaten by the petty thieves roaming around up to no good.

Victor was part of the renovation of the Avbob funeral services head office building and is very proud of this achievement inn his career and he also now has the job of maintaining his creation because his employer gave him the maintenance job of the building. Victor has struggled a lot. in this trade because its not an easy one one for aren't the main challenges he faces is the rewiring of a house or building and has often let his employer down and is currently trying to perfect this difficult task that not many can do, Victor admits that. working conditions aren't easy but are manageable and would not change anything in the future because he loves what he does.

When I asked Victor what it takes to be an electrician like him he told me that it requires very hard work and you need to expect to lean something new everyday and keep any open mind to new concepts and you need to be able to learn fast and not to never quit and be strong so that you can solve the problem at hand.

Victor is an inspiration and I feel honored to have had the privilege to interviewed him he has really been a real example that hard work takes you far in life, Victor's life story should prove to everyone that it is not only the people with the university degrees that make a difference in life but also people like Victor who make it tick in the industry.

Group:

Miguel

Cole

Tristan

Neil

Joseph the concrete specialist

Starting from humble beginnings as an unemployed resident of Mamelodi, Joseph got into the construction industry in 1997 when a friend of his got him a job as a casual labourer on a construction site. Instead of turning to crime like many others in his area did, Joseph started a career in construction.

He started as an unskilled labourer clearing rubble, digging trenches and moving materials. After doing this for a while he got the opportunity to help some of his co-workers who were building a staircase. This was the turning point in his career, he discovered that he was good at working with concrete and that he enjoyed the work.

He kicked off his career at a company called Slab-and-All. They specialised in concrete work, mainly floor slabs and staircases. He now works for LT Construction doing the same work as before. His everyday tasks include putting up shuttering, assembling steel reinforcing structures as well as pouring and finishing of concrete surfaces.

One of the most common challenges that he faces is the weather. If there is a lot of rain then he must stop his work which delays the entire construction process. Delays can be very costly when doing concrete work as the concrete must be ordered in advance to be delivered on a certain day. Concrete must be poured as soon as it arrives on site so that it does not dry out and become unusable. Concrete producers charge the contractor extra fees if the project is delayed. If any mistakes are made, Joseph and his team are required to fix it without being paid overtime.

Joseph is currently saving up money so that he can obtain a certificate in staircase construction. This will allow him to become a part of the tender process and to supervise staircase projects. He already has the knowledge but having a certificate will allow him to give his input on the design of the staircase. Having a certificate will also enable him to get a better salary.

To those aspiring to work in the construction industry he says, "stay focused, have passion for your work and learn from other people on site".

This man is an inspiration and we respect him as a builder of our city Tshwane.

The story of a hard-working builder

The story of a hard-working builder

Yokuqhosha is the first word mister Sizwe Mnthembu said to me when I interviewed him. He was very serious at first when we started speaking and I was wondering about the state of mind he was in. But after only a few minutes he softened his tone of voice and told me Pride is all about what he stands for as a person. Sizwe was born on 29 March 1982 and is from a family of 6 and he was raised on a farm just outside Soweto. He went to a rural Primary School, Nhluhle Primary and after his father saw what he saw in himself he sent him to a high school away from home as his father never gave him that opportunity. Thus being in a fortunate position Sizwe graduated from Mhluhlekamula High School outside Gauteng in 2000. His father mister Mnthembu was a very emotionless father that didn’t show him any means of affection, but as Sizwe explained this was the greatest gift his father could have given him. His father’s main goal in his life was to let his roots follow down as Sizwe explained. From a young age his father told him to take pride in anything he does, if it’s for respect or any means of earning wealth. This closed off and the strict personality of his father brushed off on Sizwe. As he told me I taught him how to be hardworking, grateful and patient for what the future holds for him.

 

Fig 1. Sizwe preparing the foundations.

Thus being a semi-skilled worker which is defined as “A person who has sufficient knowledge of a trade to do something simple or respective work with help of simple tools” wasn’t an aspect that held him back to any extent. The things Sizwe learnt from his father allowed him to develop and grow in the field that he is so passionate about, and not only for being the fortunate position of being taught by the people and seen as one of the best there is he still stays a humble soft spoken young man. He told me as being the lead brick layer of the company he is working for, he sees himself as one of the most important individuals working on any construction project. As he explained, what is the one aspect of a building that keeps the rain out, or is there supporting the roof structure which allows people to sleep safely and thankfully at night? It’s the wall, built up by every single individual bricklayer. As he spoke with so much passion in the work his does, even though we may think its so small it’s the most important aspect of any building, he kept speaking about all of these superstructures he was working on and the way his eye lit up, I saw every single aspect his father had taught him as a young boy. Being grateful and hardworking to make a success in what you do and the most important thing to take yokuqhosha in what you do.

Out of this wonderful experience interviewing this young man, and being the a reflective set of mind I went out to let the group know of this experience and told then what my new objective is going to be for this year. Your roots are the most important aspect of who you grow up to be as an individual one day, and I am determined never to lose what I have been taught and I am going to live my roots out as Sizwe is; portraying what his father wanted him to be and what my parents want me to become. Sizwe has showed me the importance of hard work to become successful and I think every member in this group is can achieve the most out of what they do. Sizwe’s life has been full of promise and great achievement and the only thing that the future holds for him is bright exciting times.

Ross de Beer, Daniel Smit, Michael Buck, Ruan Pretorius

Sfiso Mkhize, an inspiration to all.

The Story behind an artisan bricklayer

Born and bred in Kwamashu. Sfiso Mhkize has come from very humble Beginnings. Being raised in Apartheid South Africa was very difficult for him. The reality was he didn’t have a bright future ahead of himself if things didn’t change politically. He never let this predict his future though. Sfiso attended school every day including Saturdays. He started to help fix the buildings at school at the age of 13 and that is when he found out how he could improve his future. Sfiso told us that he was good at what he did. He was passionate about his work and because of this his quality of work was always good.

Fig 1. Mr Mhkize on his daily job.

When we first spoke to Mr Mkhize about his experience as a brick layer he told us that he had been doing it for 38 years with a certain pride in his voice. He told us that he is a 53 year old man and that he started laying bricks when he was 15 years old. He started laying bricks with his father who apparently taught him how to do it. He explained that he first learnt when his father got a piece of land on a plot of the man he worked for, they had to build their own house on the piece of land. His father was previously a brick layer before he started his new job of which Mr Mkhize didn’t elaborate on. He explained that he and his father built the entire house that they thereafter stayed in. He said that from there onwards he knew that he wanted to do this as a living as it wasn’t too strenuous but it paid well. Thereafter Mr Mkhize laid bricks in his community for the people that he knew as a small job. He then said that he wanted to be better than that and he wanted to earn more than what he was at that stage. So at approximately the age of 19 he went to a robot with a sign to say that he was a good brick layer and he said that out of sheer luck a man saw him on the 4th day of looking and asked him to come and work for him. He then worked for this man for the next 25 years approximately and thereafter he was picked up by a construction company to come and lay bricks for them. Mr Mkhize said that he was extremely good at the job as he was very accurate and precise with his work, this is why many people wanted him to work for them. He said that this only came from his many years of experience on the job.

Reflecting on our interview with Mr Mkhize, we feel grateful to have had the opportunity and are inspired by his story. Mr Mkhize’s upbringing proves that hard work and commitment is the key to success and embarking on our very own journey in construction we can take a leaf out of Mr Mkhize’s book with all the experience he has behind him. Hearing Mr Mkhize’s story makes us realise how no matter who you are or where you come from no ambition is too small as long as you have the right mindset. Mr Mkhize’s vast experience in the construction industry has gifted him with knowledge like nobody else in his field and he takes much pride in the quality of his work. This shows just how passionate he is about what he does and we feel priviledged to have had the opportunity to speak to a man who is making a difference one brick at a time.

Ross de Beer, Daniel Smit, Michael Buck, Ruan Pretorius

Daniel, a real life Bob the builder.

Not many men can organise a team of builders, analyse building plans, help with the laying of bricks and plastering of walls and take time to tell his origin story to a bewildered student but Daniel does all of this with ease. In this essay you will get to know a man who worked his way up in the construction industry through intense manual labour and the willingness to learn.

Born and raised in Mpumalanga, Daniel completed his matric and moved to Gauteng where he started to work with his uncle as a bricklayer. Daniel describes himself as a people person who always goes the extra mile to help those around him. These selfless acts resulted in trained plasterers teaching him how to plaster and project managers taking time from their schedule to teach him how to read floor plans and manage a construction project.

After saving up enough money Daniel completed his civil engineering certificate and became self employed by creating his own building company. He works with friends but also hires unschooled workers to help with bigger projects.

In the interview I could feel his passion for building and helping other people. Daniel says that plastering is his favourite part of building but overall he enjoys every aspect of the building process. When I asked him which project he is the most proud of he could not highlight a single project because he works to be proud of every single building he helps build. He did however say that one of the greatest achievements for him would be to build a house, as big and beautiful as the ones he builds for other people, for him and his family.

Daniel has once again taught us the importance of hard work and helping others. We look forward to working with him again in the weeks to come.

Below is the original interview with real life construction sound effects.

Float Like A Butterfly, Cling Like A Brick

Float like a butterfly, cling like a brick 

Alex Khoza also known as Ali, whether he got his nickname from his full name or from portraying the characteristics of the famous boxer, Mohammed Ali, nobody really knows. But the brick layer from White River (Kabokweni) in the Mpumalanga Province has a story to share.

"Ali'' Khoza 

This 25 year old started and ended his studies in Mpumalanga as a boy from a low income family, striving for the best to improve the situation at home. Unfortunately things did not work out as he had hoped.

Ali's father was a professional bricklayer. He would often take Ali to work with him. This led to Ali discovering his passion for construction. He observed and picked up basic skills on bricklaying and plastering.

In 2006, at the age of 16, Ali decided to drop out of school due to financial difficulties. This was an opportunity for him to finally follow his passion in bricklaying. He worked with a few companies before he attained a bricklaying certificate. "This was a great moment in my life," he said, ''I'm fortunate to be the first in my family line to reach such an achievement," he continued...

In 2012, Ali started working for RBA Constructions and furthered his experience, and now he is determined to train others who are passionate about becoming professional bricklayers. Over the past year and a half, Ali has trained 10 people to become professional bricklayers. He is overjoyed by his achievements and would like to start his own company in the next 4 to 5 years.

Ali's motto is, "Take life one brick at a time, and before you know it, you'll have a wall." This means that we shouldn't be intimidated by the size of our dreams, problems or circumstances. We should just lay the first brick as best as we can and we'll realise that it is possible to achieve our dreams.

Ali loves his job, you can see it from each brick he lays. He says he never has bad days when he is building," I love my job, I love working with bricks and seeing people (clients) smile after a job well done." Ali lead us to realising how much we need specialists like him. People like Ali are components of a bigger picture, without them, we wouldn't have this bigger picture.

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The story of how two individuals came about working in the construction industry.

 

Jonathan Hoffman is an ambitious plumber who has dedicated his whole life towards plumbing. It is his job to go and install all the plumbing units in a specified time period, so that the building process can continue without delay. Jonathan is struck by a difficult learning curve when he leaves school and is thrown straight into the deep end of the plumbing industry. Under the circumstances, Jonathan’s hard work and perseverance pays off, as he is rewarded with many great opportunities in his career.

Jonathan grew up in Rustenburg and attended Grenswag High school in the North-West. At first Jonathan wanted nothing to do with plumbing, however, his grandfather who was already working in the plumbing industry, compelled Jonathan to go down the same career path. Thus, after matric, Jonathan went straight into plumbing, and started working for his grandfather. Although Jonathan did not study after school, he learnt everything there is to know about plumbing through his grandfather, as well as many years of trial and error.

Jonathan’s hard work eventually paid off over time, as he was given the opportunity to work on many large and interesting construction sites that play an important role in today’s society. He has worked on a total of 8 giant projects, the main ones he had worked on was, Lynwood Bridge mall, Woodlands Mall and Wonderpark.  Even though it must be an honour to work on such large sites, Jonathan’s favourite part about his job is the end result, he compares his job to art, as he says that he starts off with nothing and ends up building and installing objects that stay there forever, objects that he can always come back to and know that it was his hands that built them, which to him feels like a great achievement.

The plumbing industry is a very stressful industry to go into, and has many challenges. Some of the challenges that Jonathan has to face on a daily basis are the time limits and deadlines that he has in order to complete his work. As a result of the deadlines, Jonathan has to work longer hours which puts him at a disadvantage, as he goes home much later at night, and has less time to spend with his family.

Our interview with Jonathan Hoffman was of great insight into the plumbing industry. It helped us realise the importance of plumbers and how their job contributes to the building industry. We also learnt a lot about what process to follow if one of us were to pursue a career in plumbing.

 

 

Wilston Mashomba is an aspiring electrician working in the building industry.  His job is to install all the electrics in a building without shocking himself. Wilston had to learn the hard way as he had to drop out of school and find a job due to the fact that his parents couldn’t pay for his schooling anymore.

Wilston was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He dropped out of school in grade 9 to start working, after 2 years of doing odd jobs for money, Wilston stumbled across a construction company in Zimbabwe that took him in and taught him the ropes. He learnt all that he could possibly learn about being an electrician, and then finally made the decision to go to South Africa and find work there, as he knew the opportunities to make money were abundant.

The challenges that Wilston faced were tremendous, due to the fact that he wasn’t qualified for the job, he found it difficult to find work in South Africa. As a result of his situation, Wilston accepted a job in a lower position, and worked for someone else. Although he doesn’t enjoy his job much, he works to earn money in order to support his wife and children.

Our interview with Wilston Mashomba opened up an understanding of the tough life he has faced in order to get where he is today. Wilston has taught us the importance of hard work and dedication, as he had to drop out of school in order to work so that he could make enough money just to afford food, and as a consequence of his determination to strive towards success, Wilston can proudly say that he is successful. Wilston has also helped us understand the obligations of an electrician, as well as what process would be best to follow if we ever had to embark on a career as an electrician

The story of Kris Oosthuizen: General Foreman

 

The morning we walked onto site the first person who caught our attention was a young, authoritative man explaining to a group of workers what was expected of them on that day. When he finished talking to the workers he turned and confidently introduced himself to us as Kris Oosthuizen. Kris is the general foreman for Hein Fick Construction, a construction company based in Pretoria. As Kris shared his story with us we got better insight into his journey of becoming a successful general foreman, what his daily duties and responsibilities are as well as what his future vision for the building industry is.  

Kris, who is now only 23 years old, grew up in Pretoria and attended Hoërskool Wonderboom. The building industry has always fascinated him and he therefore spent his life gaining knowledge on the building industry through hands on experience. Even though Kris had no tertiary qualification in this field, his experience made him the best candidate when it came to employing a general foreman. After he was offered the job of general foreman his willingness to learn didn’t subside, but flourished under the guidance of his boss, Hein Fick. This has greatly led to the success Kris has achieved in the building industry and it is evident from the respect his colleagues have for him.

Kris is currently working on a building site where they are building both a single and a double storey house. His daily duties and responsibilities on site doesn’t change but only becomes more complicated as the size of the project increases. Kris’ responsibilities consists of making sure that the day to day activities on site run smoothly. Complications might sometime arise since the coordination of the different trades becomes difficult, so to make sure this happens Kris must have proper control systems in place. The most important of these are stock control measures which includes receiving and checking materials delivered as well as making sure they have enough of the consumable resources they use on site. Along with stock control Kris must also do general housekeeping on site and in the store room which means he has to keep the site clean of debris. This makes stock control easier to manage. Then the final and probably most important part of his job is quality control. He does this well through effective, daily communication to workers on what must be achieved, how to go about achieving this and then constantly checking up on them. He told us that he does this productively because he understands the people working with him. He also takes a firm stand when it comes to communicating what he wants achieved.    

Even though Kris doesn’t have years of experience in the building industry, he still finds his job to be satisfactory and would also recommend it anyone who wants to take the same career path. Kris believes the key to being a successful general foreman is to tackle each day and the problems which might arise one step at a time. Yet he still sees opportunities for improvement in the building industry especially in 2 fields. He would firstly like to keep up with the trend in South Africa and see positive changes in health and safety on site. Understanding and keeping the workers on site safe is one of his main priorities. Secondly, according to Kris, stricter rules on building codes need to implement. This is part of a general foreman’s job when it comes to quality control and can only be beneficial since there will be better quality buildings and contractors will avoid hefty fines.

After talking to Kris and learning more about being a general foreman we have more respect for the profession than before after considering the complications they are faced with on a daily basis that needs solving. Kris’ advice to us was to take each problem as it comes and to follow his example of understanding the people working with and around you. Kris believes good communication and thoughtfulness to be the solution to many of the problems he is faced with on site and says it is true for all forms of group work. By focusing on your current problem you will be more productive and through consideration of those around you, the group is more likely to work well together.