Interveiw 1:

Standing in the boiling sun on a Friday afternoon Arnold Martins , a Foreman, Renowned Builder and Plasterer, stands with a smile on his face telling us about his life story. His job as a foreman is to keep the group on track with their project and to make sure everything runs smoothly. Arnold comes from Pietersburg in Limpopo. This is where he grew up and attended school up until the eighth grade. At the beginning of grade nine Arnolds’father passed away. He had to stop school and start working so that he could provide for his family financially as he was the oldest sibling.

Figure 1- Arnold overseeing the work being done correctly

Arnolds’ first job was at a well known and established construction business in Pietersburg, “Meerkat Buildings”. He started working there at a tender age of 15 were he began at the bottom doing the small and unwanted jobs. As the years went on Arnold worked his way up in the ranks by doing varies jobs on the sites. Arnold enjoys his job as he finds satisfaction in seeing a project through as well as the end results of his hard work.

Arnolds ’skills as a builder and plasterer were trained by a mentor whom the construction company provided him with. This mentor of his taught him the trades of building and plastering, as well as the trade of carpeting, plumbing and small electrical tasks. 

Arnold tells that his mentor, Josh Walker, plays a very important role in his life as he taught him everything he knows today.  Arnold also tells that Mr Pieter Swanepoelplays an important role in his life as he provides him with a job.

Arnold tells that there are various challenges that the building team experiences on a daily basis. The most common ones are transport, illness and family issues. He also tells that the construction trade is facing a challenge of finding new carpenters and plumbers as there is a decrees of interest in these trades. Arnold also says that he hopes this will change soon as there are a lot of opportunities for people in these trades.

Arnold is a very proud man of his trade and the work he has done over the years, like building malls, schools, churches and many more. He says that the project he is most proud of is the hospital he and his team built in his home town, in Pietersburg, as he knows there was a huge demand for it and that his work also helps save lives. Arnold wishes that others will see what great trade he works in. he says he knows the hours are long and the pay is not of the best, but he satisfaction that comes after the project is complete is worthwhile.

Interview 2:

Neil Roberts story as a plumber did not start that long ago. He has only been in the trade for two years as he first finished school in his home town, Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal, and then moved to Pretoria were he followed a two year trade program to receive his papers for plumbing. Neil whole determination came from his bother and cousin, both plumbers, to move to Pretoria do to the qualification. In this time of studying Neilhad to do a lot of practical work where he quickly caught on to his trade.

Figure 2- Neil checking the brick work to insure his piping system fits

As a plumber Neil is responsible for all of the sanitary services that has to be done on the construction site as well as making sure that all of the plumbing and water systems are functional and meet their requirements. In this trade of Neil there are daily problems as his job description is to fix others plumbing problems. One of his challenges is laying out the pipe work as the angels have to be spot on to insure the whole system works. In this statement Neil hopes that in the near future the plumbing systems will be simplified to quicken up the proses of instillation, finding problems and fixing them.

As Neil has not been in the business for years the magnitude of projects he has done are not so big, but he still takes pride in his work. Neil says that one of his proudest moments where when the hospital in Upington was completed as he could proudly say that he had a hand in the plumbing in this magnificent building.

Figure 3- Arnold left and Neil right

Neil as a young plumber has great advice for those who have an interest in the trade op plumbing. He says that plumbing is not the most prestigious job title, but the amount of work that is on the table for a modern plumber is staggering.  Good, quality plumbers are highly in demand and get paid top dollar for their services.  So he encourages people to think differently about plumbers.